How do I prove an institution is responsible for the abuse I suffered as a child?

If you experienced sexual abuse as a child in an institution you may have a claim in negligence against that institution.

An institution takes many forms. It could be a school, a sports club, a children’s home, a juvenile justice detention centre or a foster care placement where the child is placed as a ward of the State.

If a person is considering taking action against the institution he or she has to prove that the institution owed a duty of care and that duty was breached by the institution.

More specifically, the person bringing the action has to show there was a breach of the duty of care to ensure he or she was not sexually abused.

A person may be able to establish there was a breach if their circumstances would lead a Court to consider there was a concern and that the concerning circumstances would have or should have led to the conclusion the child was exposed to the risk of being sexually abused.

Lastly, the breach must have caused damage to the child, usually psychiatric harm.

All of these issues involve a deep dive into the facts of each case.

Further, each case may be impacted by different legislation depending on which State the abuse took place.

At Chamberlains we help survivors of institutional child sexual abuse navigate the complex world of court litigation. Contact our Abuse Compensation Claims team.

This article was prepared with the assistance of Keziah Holdsworth.