Arabic version: ناجية من تسمانيا انتظرت 23 شهراً للحصول على السجلات

According to ABC News, Tasmanian victim-survivor Sam Morgan waited 23 months for foster care and school records requested from the state education department, delaying her planned civil court claim against the State of Tasmania.

Morgan alleges she was physically abused by a foster carer when she was 12 or 13, sexually abused by a foster carer as a teenager, and physically abused at a Tasmanian government high school. The alleged abuse occurred in the 1980s. She sought the records so her lawyer could begin a claim, and said the prolonged wait made her anxiety “horrific”.

Her lawyer, Azita Arian of Maurice Blackburn, said records can establish when and where people were placed, identify relevant foster carers or workers, and in some cases document disclosures of abuse. She said other clients’ cases had also been delayed by lengthy waits for material.

Morgan applied to the National Redress Scheme and was offered $100,000. The scheme’s payments are capped at $150,000, and Arian said accepting an offer would essentially bar Morgan from pursuing a civil claim. Morgan has not accepted the payment.

Ombudsman Tasmania said in a May email that it was aware of, and concerned by, a backlog of requests at the Department for Education, Children and Young People. The department said it was committed to reducing RTI processing times, with additional and more senior resources introduced this year. Recommendations to improve access to records for victim-survivors remain listed as “in progress” in the government’s latest report.