Apply for Redress for Historical Institutional Abuse

On this page

How to apply
When you apply
Confirm your identity
Share your information
Mandatory reporting
Contact us

To be eligible, you need to meet the following criteria:

• lived as a child (before the age of 18) in a Victorian institution for at least 6 months (in total) before 1 January 1990
• experienced physical, psychological, or emotional abuse or neglect in the Victorian institution.

Note: You may not be able to apply for redress, if you were placed in a justice facility as a child because you were found guilty of an offence, and you were not a state ward or under any other protective order.

If you are unsure, please call the Redress support team on 1800 716 870 (free call).

How to apply

There are 2 ways to apply:

1. Download the application form.
2. Apply online via the Redress for Historical Institutional Abuse online form.

Download the application form

If you download, you can:

• fill in the application form on the computer and then print

or

• print the application form and write on the form.

Send the completed application form to the Department of Families, Fairness and Housing by:

• email at victorianredress@dffh.vic.gov.au

or

• post to Redress for Historical Institutional Abuse, GPO Box 4057, Melbourne 3000 

Apply online

You can complete your application online via the Redress for Historical Institutional Abuse online form.

You will need to create an account before you can apply. By creating an account, you will be able to save the application until you are ready to submit.

Please note that you will need a mobile number or email address to create an account. 

Support is available

The department understands that it may be difficult to write about your experiences. If you need help, you can seek support.

You can ask someone you trust such as a carer, friend or family member to help you. You can also appoint someone (known as a nominee) to complete your application on your behalf.

You can also access free and confidential redress support services. Go to Redress services and supports webpage to find out more.

When you apply

When you apply, you will need to:

• Tells us what the institutional setting/s are where you experienced abuse and/or neglect. This includes the names and dates (approximately) you lived there.
• Tell us (in approximately 300 words) about the abuse and/or neglect you experienced. You only need to give information to show that you experienced one type of abuse or neglect, not every time.

Download the applicants information sheet for more information.

Types of abuse and neglect

The ‘Types of abuse and neglect webpage’ explains what the department means by physical, psychological and emotional abuse and neglect in Redress for Historical Institutional Abuse.

You may find this content distressing and need to talk to someone. If an emergency contact Triple Zero (000). For support you can contact one of the free and confidential redress support services.

Confirm your identity

You will need to provide:

Certified copies of 2 documents that prove your identity.

The types of identity documents you can use include:

• driver’s licence, learner’s permit, firearm licence or marine licence
• Medicare card
• passport or citizenship certificate
• Keypass
• Australian Government concession card (including health care card)
• Australian Government’s Department of Veterans Affairs card birth certificate
• a Working with Children Check card
• pensioner concession card
• bank card (copies of both sides) issued by an Australian institution
• utility statement (gas, water, electricity, internet, mobile or home phone)
• Australian Taxation Office assessment
• student or tertiary institution identification card
• executed lease agreement.

The 2 identity documents will need to have your legal name on, which will need to match the name on your application form.

For a list people who can certify copies of original documents visit the Department of Justice and Community Safety’s webpage, Certified copies of original documents.

If you have questions about this, please phone us on 1800 716 870 between 9 am to 5 pm, Monday to Friday (excluding public holidays).

Nominee

You can also choose someone to act on your behalf (known as a nominee). The nominee can:

• complete a power of attorney document and make decisions for you
• through a court order, act as a guardian or help to manage your money.

They will need to give evidence that they can act on your behalf in a legal capacity.

Your nominee will need to give us:

• certified copies of 2 forms of current identification
• evidence of their authority to act on your behalf.

Share your information

When you apply, you will need to agree to:

• share your name and date of birth with us and other departments, institutions and redress schemes
• other institutions sharing information with us that confirms the dates you were at an institution
• other institutions and redress schemes sharing information with us about any relevant prior payments you have received. 

How we will use and share your information

We will protect your personal, sensitive and health information under the Privacy and Data Protection Act 2014 (Vic), together with our Privacy Policy.

To apply for redress, we will need to collect information about you.

We will also need to share your information with others. For example, we will need to share your name, date of birth, and the name of any institution you lived in, with:

• the institution, to confirm your time living there, and any prior payments they gave you
• our lawyers and insurer to confirm any prior payments they gave you
• other Australian government departments and organisations that offer redress, to confirm any prior redress payments they gave you.

We will ask you about prior payments as they will be deducted from the final redress payment.

We will only collect and share information with your consent.

If you don’t wish to give your information, or consent to us sharing it with others, you will not be able to apply for redress.

If you give us information that we haven’t asked for, we will destroy it under the Public Records Act 1973 (Vic).

How we use your nominee’s information

If you are a nominee of an applicant, we will send updates on the application to you.

A nominee is someone who can act on your behalf such as but not limited to:

• they have the legal right to make decisions for you through a power of attorney
• they act as a guardian or helps to manage your money because of a court order.

This person will need to give a copy of their ID, like a driver's licence and proof that they can act for you.

Mandatory reporting

We may need to share information about alleged perpetrators with child protection or police. We only do this to keep children and others safe, and when the law says we must.

If you are worried, please talk to us. A representative from the department will explain how mandatory reporting works and help to make sure you’re safe.