What is the Committee?

The Committee is a group of eight politicians from the Australian Parliament.

You can find who is on the Committee on this website: Committee Membership

The Committee’s role is to inquire into the National Redress Scheme for institutional child sexual abuse.

This helps to make sure the Scheme is effective.

The Committee does not decide who is given redress or a payment.

You should contact the National Redress Scheme on 1800 737 377 to apply for redress or to find out the status of your existing application.

What is an inquiry? What does this mean?

This means that the Committee is going to ask for information about the topics listed in the terms of reference.

The Committee can do this by asking for written submissions and by speaking to people at public hearings.

The Committee then makes a report, which usually has recommendations (or suggestions for change). The report is presented to the Parliament.

These steps are called an inquiry.

The inquiry may take as long as the Committee needs to finish its work.

What are terms of reference? Where do I find them? What are they for?

Terms of reference are a statement describing what the Committee will consider during the inquiry. This is so everyone knows:

What information is relevant
What issues are likely to be discussed during public hearings
What is likely to be discussed in the Committee’s report

The terms of reference are available here: Terms of Reference

What are written submissions?

A submission is a document where you can write down your ideas, knowledge and views on the terms of reference.

You can send your submission to the Committee. This helps the Committee gather information for the inquiry.

Your submission can respond to some topics in the terms of reference – or you can respond to everything listed in the terms of reference.

How do I prepare a written submission?

A submission can be typed or written neatly by hand.

You can write a short document with your ideas in a series of dot points.

You can choose to write a long submission.

Make sure your submission is relevant to the terms of reference.

There is additional guidance available on how to prepare a submission: Preparing a Submission.

Writing a submission about things that have affected you can cause distress. Support services are listed on the Committee’s website: https://www.aph.gov.au/Redress47.

Please make sure you include your phone number, address and email on your submission, so we can contact you. We do not publish your contact details.

If you feel comfortable, you can ask a trusted person to help you write your submission.

Where do I send my written submission?

To send your submission to the Committee, you can:

Email to:redress@aph.gov.au

Post to:

Joint Standing Committee on Implementation of the National Redress Scheme
PO Box 6021
Parliament House
Canberra, ACT, 2601

When are submissions due?

Submissions closed on Monday 2 September 2024.

What happens to my written submission?

Submissions are shared with the Committee.

The Committee may agree that your submission should be placed on the Australian Parliament website, where anyone can read a copy.

The Committee may place your submission on the website, but remove your name or some details from the submission.

Sometimes, the Committee will agree that everything in a submission should be confidential. Those submissions are not placed on the website.

All submissions help the Committee decide what to say in its report.

Can my written submission be kept confidential?

You can ask for your submission to remain confidential.

Clearly mark your submission ‘confidential’.

The Committee decides whether a submission can be confidential.

If the Committee agrees, that means the submission and your identity is not published.

I have made a written submission before, can I send it again?

Yes, although you may like to make some changes before sending again.

Make sure the submission is clearly addressed to the Committee.