Acknowledging abuse
When Anglicare Victoria (AV) formed in 1997, and integrated St Luke’s in 2014, Anglicare Victoria took over the responsibility for all the programs of our three founding agencies, including former children’s homes and institutions.
During the late 2000s, Anglicare Victoria developed a response to allegations of abuse that took place while children or young people were in the care of one or more of Anglicare Victoria’s founding agencies.
AV’s approach was based on an understanding of, and responsiveness to, the impacts of trauma. We focused on survivors’ physical, psychological, emotional, and cultural safety. While elements of the process continued to be facilitated through a formally, our model sought to resolve matters in a timely and non-legalistic way to avoid causing further harm.
AV provided supports for those making redress applications for historical abuse, and AV staff and agents underwent training on the impacts of trauma and sexual assault.
"The thing that helped me get over the pain was me talking with you, meeting with the CEO and having the opportunity to tell my story."
Institutional abuse survivors have often lived through decades of trauma associated with their experiences. AV’s willingness to speak to former clients, apologise face-to-face and provide counselling recognises these are important steps with positive impacts for many former clients.
"Our process is about healing. It's about recognising the wrong and what can we do to restore dignity. People who have had that pain and come forward have a voice now. Redress is about believing. We started with an authentic desire for people to be heard, not to protect the agency. We didn't wait for the government to tell us. We did not wait for other institutions to tell us what they were doing. We got straight onto it."
In July 2018, the Commonwealth Government launched the National Redress Scheme, as part of implementing recommendations from the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse, and invited states, territories, and non-government institutions, such as Anglicare Victoria to ‘opt-in’. AV became a participating institution in the scheme and has incorporated many recommendations from the royal commission into the continued development and improvement of our response to former clients who were abused in care.
"At Anglicare Victoria, we work closely with our past clients to understand the impact historical abuse has had on them and how we can best assist them in healing. Signing on to the National Redress Scheme is a natural extension of ensuring we provide adequate support to those seeking relief from their suffering."
"We released a record to a gentleman in his mid-70s. He returned and told me that he had kept hidden the abuse that he had experienced all his life. He had never told his wife, and he had forgotten about it. When he got his record and read the lines, it triggered a cascade of memories and processing. We supplied him with free counselling. The stories are heartbreaking, but if our redress scheme can also facilitate the healing of some of the pain that people carry from the homes that we provided them, then that is something."
If you wish to discuss the time you were in care with Anglicare Victoria or one or more of its founding agencies, we encourage you to contact our Heritage and Redress Manager by email redress@anglicarevic.org.au.
