The deceased estates of people eligible for Redress WA, but who have passed away before their application for an ex-gratia payment is finalised, will now receive a $5,000 eligibility payment.
Community Services Minister Robin McSweeney said the State Government had changed the Redress WA guidelines in light of cases where people with a terminal illness or life threatening condition had died before their application for an interim payment had been assessed.
“This has highlighted a shortcoming in the scheme guidelines that has unreasonably disadvantaged those people and their families,” Mrs McSweeney said.
“The new eligibility payments will take effect immediately and will be backdated to those deceased estates where the applicant has unfortunately passed away before their interim payment is fully assessed.
“So far Redress WA has identified 21 of these cases where an eligible applicant has passed away suddenly without their interim payment being fully processed.
The Minister said that under the Redress WA guidelines people with a terminal or life threatening condition, verified by a medical practitioner, could still apply for an interim payment of up to $10,000.
“I encourage applicants who are in terminally ill health or who have a life threatening illness to contact Redress WA to apply for an interim payment which will be dealt with by staff as a matter of priority,” she said.
“These changes have been made to ensure that those people who have lived through the trauma of abuse and had the courage to tell their stories still have the opportunity for proper acknowledgement.
“This was not possible under the existing guidelines and I have asked Redress WA to contact the families of Priority 1 applicants who have passed away to ensure their deceased estates receive this eligibility payment.”
Minister's office - 9222 8950