UCA Redress Ltd is a company that has been established by the Uniting Church in Australia to be the national body for the Uniting Church to respond to, and provide support for, children and vulnerable persons who have suffered abuse at the hands of the Uniting Church or its institutions, including by participation in a nationally consistent equitable redress scheme.
We pay our respects to the First Nations people of the country in which we live and acknowledge elders - past, present and emerging.
We acknowledge that children entrusted to us did not always receive the care they deserved and we acknowledge the ongoing impact and trauma of the separation of children from families and communities.
National Redress Scheme
The National Redress Scheme provides acknowledgement and support to people who experienced institutional child sexual abuse.
The Scheme was created in response to the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse, which estimated that 60,000 people experienced institutional child sexual abuse in Australia. Redress is an alternative to seeking compensation through the courts.
National Redress
Scheme provides:
- A Redress payment
- Access to counselling
- A direct personal response from an institution (e.g. an apology)
For information about the National Redress Scheme, please go to
https://www.nationalredress.gov.au/
Information for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people can be found here
https://www.nationalredress.gov.au/resources/information-aboriginal-torres
The UCA's response to the Royal Commission
President Dr Deidre Palmer has affirmed the Uniting Church’s commitment to the National Redress Scheme and acknowledged the pain caused for survivors.
“For anyone who was abused in the care of the Uniting Church, in our churches, schools or agencies, I’d again like to apologise sincerely. I am truly sorry that we didn’t protect and care for you in accordance with our Christian values,” said Dr Palmer.
“Please be assured that we are working to make amends and to ensure that our Church has a strong and robust culture of child safety that empowers children and adults in our care.”