Guiding Principles for Commonwealth entities responding to civil claims involving allegations of institutional child sexual abuse

The Office of Legal Services Coordination (OLSC) has prepared guidance notes to help agencies to comply with their obligations under the Legal Services Directions 2017.

Commonwealth entities are to be mindful of the potential trauma that survivors of institutional child sexual abuse may experience during the claims and/or litigation process.  They should adopt a consistent approach when responding to these types of claims, and instruct their lawyers to take into account the sensitivities involved in handling claims by institutional child sexual abuse survivors.