Cricket ACT becomes formal participant in National Redress Scheme for victims of child sex abuse

The association has become a formal participant in the scheme, more than two years after they first started the process.

Senior officials have acknowledged for a number of years the historic incidents that occurred within the sport and have had a commitment to supporting survivors.

The National Redress Scheme was set up following the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse and Cricket ACT chief executive Olivia Thornton said Monday was a vital step towards healing.

"It's really important [to become a participant in the scheme]," Thornton said. "We've worked with the [Department of Social Services] really well since 2020.

"We've been proactive with providing financial statements and we're in a position to be able to become a participating organisation and provide support for people that have potentially experienced forms of abuse in our game."

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Cricket ACT were originally rejected from joining the National Redress Scheme after the Department of Social Services ruled them ineligible due to financial constraints.

Those concerns have now been addressed, however there are still questions over the organisation's ability to fund redress for current and future applications.

Survivors can access up to $150,000 and it's understood there are at least 15 people eligible to make a claim. The total cost to Cricket ACT could be millions.

While Cricket Australia supported the body's decision to become involved in the scheme, the national governing body is yet to commit to providing financial assistance.

Cricket ACT has few cash reserves and it's understood senior officials hold genuine fears about their ability to fund the redress if a large number of applications are made.

Despite the financial pressure it could place on the organisation, there is a belief the current administration has an obligation to take the opportunity to right past wrongs.

National Redress Scheme administrators have expressed a willingness to work with the sporting body to ensure it meets its requirements under the program without being forced into a financial black hole.

It's understood Cricket ACT will have access to loans, deferred payments and other methods to raise funds.

When quizzed on how her organisation plans on funding their contributions to the Redress Scheme, Thornton said they are working through that process.

"We're working through that at the moment," she said.

"We're working through that holistically. I can't pinpoint exactly where [funds] will come from."

The acceptance in the scheme will allow sexual abuse victims of convicted paedophile and former junior cricket coach Ian Harold King to apply for compensation.

King was found guilty of sexual abuse of 10 boys during his time as a coach in the Canberra region between 1989-1998. He was jailed for 22 years.

The sentence was extended by 23 months last September when he pleaded guilty to a new charge of committing an act of indecency on another victim, who was 13 when the offence occurred in 1998.

The federal government scheme, set up in 2018 for survivors of institutional sexual abuse, was given a $39 million funding boost last year and has been accessed by more than 15,000 people in four years.

Cricket Australia has encouraged all state and territory associations to sign up to the National Redress Scheme in recent years.

CA Chairman Lachlan Henderson last year apologised to survivors of child sexual abuse within Australian cricket.

Thornton said her association was working closely with the governing body to chart a path forward under the scheme.

"We're working closely with Cricket Australia and looking at ways we can work through this together," she said.

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