'If I'd had help, I would have come up with all that,' he said. 'It still didn't make up for all the sexual abuse and all the physical abuse that we copped - those that did cop the sexual abuse, not everybody did, and some got it worse than others.'Īfter filling out his redress information on his own, Clyde now believes there is a lot more he could have said to help his claim. He remembers having the occasional outings to look forward to, visits from charitable organisations and plenty of friends. 'I remember one boy who copped a lot of sexual abuse because the perpetrator liked him so much, he was getting it all the time.' 'That was the first time I had told anybody else for years, except for my wife,' said Clyde, who took his adult son with him so he would know what happened.Ĭlyde remembers the perpetrator who abused him going after other boys as well. He shared his story with the child sexual abuse royal commission, praising the way his private session with inquiry chair Justice Peter McClellan was conducted. Remembering events that were 'very unpleasant to say the least' from his time in a Salvation Army boys' home in Victoria has been difficult for Clyde. 'It's a really difficult time for many people.' 'For many people it's a re-traumatising experience making an application because they have to think about and articulate their childhood experiences which were traumatic,' the Care Leavers Australasia Network vice president said. Mr Golding, vice president of the Care Leavers Australasia Network, said applying for redress is a very difficult time for many survivors. The scheme set up to provide redress to the 60,000 people sexually abused as children in Australian institutions continues to cop heavy criticism after its first year of operation.Īdvocate Frank Golding summed up the scheme's first year as disappointing, frustrating, slow, difficult and confusing.Ībout 4000 people have applied for compensation and counselling, but only 215 payments and a further 80 offers have been made. Some pretty terrible stuff happened there.' 'Of course you remember one incident and all the others come to the fore as well. Watch the latest news on Channel 7 or stream for free on 7plus >

Dredge up bad memories