A state parliamentarian has questioned whether the government has set aside enough funds to cover payouts to victims of child sexual abuse in Tasmanian institutions - a cost that could run into the hundreds of millions.
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Last year's budget set aside $240 million over four years to implement the government's response to the Commission of Inquiry into the Tasmanian Government's Responses to Child Sexual Abuse in Institutional Settings, released in 2023.
But it made no allocations for payouts to abuse victims stemming from legal actions, including the massive class action case by former Ashley Youth Detention Centre victims.
A later document revealed that $98 million had been allocated over four years - an amount that Treasury said was "likely not sufficient".
In parliament on Tuesday June 18, a day after a court awarded abuse survivor Katrina Munting $2 million, Greens leader Dr Rosalie Woodruff asked the government to clarify the total amount it planned to allocate for victim payouts.
"We understand well-deserved compensation and liability resulting from the Commission of Inquiry, including the Ashley Youth Detention Centre class action, could be many hundreds of millions of dollars - a debt that Tasmanians must pay," Dr Woodruff said.
"How much has your government set aside for compensation payouts," she asked.
"Or are you intending, as Ms Munting indicated happened to her, to fight victim-survivors tooth and nail through the courts, prolonging their pain and the ultimate cost to Tasmanians."
In response, Premier Jeremy Rockliff declined to answer how much it was setting aside.
"Given the legal proceedings with that matter, and they are ongoing, it is not appropriate for me to comment in more detail at this particular time," he told parliament.
In its Pre-Election Financial Outlook, Treasury noted that $98 million has been allocated over the next four years to fund payouts to victims of child sexual abuse.
But the department also admitted that sum would likely not be sufficient, given the number of claims and the budget submissions received so far.
"It is expected that addressing this issue will have a material cost to the Budget over and above the funding currently allocated," the report read.
Mr Rockliff said mediations on the Ashley class action began on June 11.
He said the mediation would be carried out in a "trauma-informed" manner.
The question over allocations for victim payouts came as the government balances a precarious financial situation.
Independent economist Saul Eslake has said that the state's public finances are deteriorating, with net financial liabilities set to top $14 billion by 2027.
He predicted that the government was likely to breach three of its own fiscal targets in the coming years, including failing to maintain a balanced budget.
Additional payments totalling hundreds of millions of dollars to abuse survivors is likely to considerably worsen this financial position.
In its revised estimates report published in February, State Treasury admitted: "The amount and timing of payments that will be required in relation to [abuse] claims is currently unable to be accurately estimated."
In relation to the Ashley Youth Detention Centre class action, Treasury noted: "The quantum and timing of legal costs and any settlement payments to complainants are uncertain."
