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After a 23-month wait to receive her own records from the Tasmanian government, Sam Morgan's civil legal case against the state can finally progress. But her lawyer says many people are losing access to justice because of long waits for records.
Sam Morgan alleges she was abused while in foster care and while a student at a Tasmania n high school. Sam Morgan plans to sue the State of Tasmania over sexual and physical abuse she allegedly experienced while in foster care, and over physical abuse she allegedly experienced at a government high school.
Her civil court abuse claim has been delayed by almost two years while she waited for the education department to release her records. The department says it's "committed to reducing the wait time fulfil RTI requests", and is making changes. For years, Sam Morgan kept the memories of the abuse she allegedly experienced while in foster care and at a Tasmanian government school buried.
When she was ready to seek justice, Ms Morgan made a Right to Information request to have her foster care and school records, held by the state's education department, sent to her lawyer so she could start a civil court claim against the state.
"When it drags on for two years … the anxiety just becomes horrific,"Ms Morgan alleges she was physically abused by a foster carer when she was aged 12 or 13, and sexually abused by a foster carer when she was a teenager. She also alleges she was physically abused at a Tasmanian government high school. Ms Morgan said she was out having a coffee with her daughter when she found out the files had finally been received by her lawyer.
"It was a big surprise but a huge relief. I cried when I got home because it was just a relief," she said. Her lawyer, Azita Arian, an associate in the abuse law team at Maurice Blackburn, said Ms Morgan was not the only person whose civil court abuse case had been held up because of delays in obtaining records.
"These are people who were abused in state care and they shouldn't have to wait almost two years to access their records," Ms Arian said. Azita Arian says the RTI delays are limiting the choices victim-survivors have when it comes to pursuing justice. She said the records were important because they helped establish when and where people were placed and could help identify foster carers and workers who are relevant to the claim.
Delays reducing choiceOne of the options they have is the National Redress Scheme , which does not require the same level of documentation and evidence as a civil court claim, but compensation payments under the scheme are capped at $150,000. After receiving advice that accepting the payment would essentially bar her from pursuing a civil claim, Ms Morgan has not accepted the offer.
Ms Arian said she had many clients also facing long waits for their records who could not afford to wait. Ms Morgan said the delays seemed "to just be really unfair". Delays in obtaining her records have delayed Sam Morgan's case against the state of Tasmania. Tasmania's ombudsman has also noted concerns about the delays with RTI applications to the education department.
In an email sent to Ms Morgan's lawyers in May, an officer from Ombudsman Tasmania said their office was "aware of the backlog of requests with the Department for Education, Children and Young People and concerned by the situation".
"Ombudsman Tasmania staff have been regularly meeting with the department to discuss concerns about the backlog," the officer wrote. They said the department's "backlog reduction strategies" had "not yet achieved significant progress and the situation is being actively monitored". The officer also said they were "aware of some applications such as those of your client that have been waiting 18 plus months".
Department 'committed to reducing the wait time' A spokesperson for the Department for Education, Children and Young People said the department was "committed to reducing the wait time to fulfil RTI requests".
"Changes implemented this year, including additional and more senior resources, are expected to further address processing timeframes," they said. "We will continue to actively engage with applicants or their advocates to identify and prioritise the critical information they need. " Justice Minister Guy Barnett, who has overall responsibility for Tasmania's RTI laws, was also contacted for comment.
Tasmania's child sexual abuse commission of inquiry made recommendations to improve access to records, which are still "in progress" according to the government's latest report on implementation. An independent review of Tasmania's Right to Information framework last year found there had been a "rapid growth in volume of applications for access to personal information".that they considered the formal RTI application process was "ill-suited for handling requests to access personal information".
They recommended a new system that would protect privacy while letting individuals access their own information. The Commission of Inquiry into the Tasmanian Government's Responses to Child Sexual Abuse in Institutional Settings also made recommendations aimed at streamlining the process for victim-survivors. Ms Morgan said she was fortunate to be able to wait the 23 months it took for her records to come through, but it was only the start of the process.
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