After enduring years of horrific sexual and physical abuse, 71 former residents of a home for Indigenous Stolen Generation children in Darwin will be compensated in what their lawyer says is the largest class action in the Northern Territory’s history. They are also the first group across the country to attain compensation from the Federal Government following evidence heard by the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse, which has been holding hearings around Australia for almost four years. The plaintiffs allege physical and sexual assaults by staff at the home from 1946 to 1980, and sought compensation for a failure of duty of care by the defendants, saying they suffered damage and loss as a result. The group’s lawyer Bill Piper said the class action was settled after a week-long mediation in Darwin.
