The federal government is considering changes to improve the $3.8 billion national redress scheme which critics claim is failing survivors of child sexual abuse.
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New Social Services Minister Anne Ruston has given no guarantees changes will be made, but confirmed they are being considered.
"The government is committed to improving the national redress scheme and ensuring that as many survivors as possible have access to redress," Senator Ruston said in a statement to AAP.
A federal parliamentary committee in April backed demands for the scheme to be overhauled to ensure it delivers justice to survivors.
Senator Ruston said the government is working on its response to the joint select committee's recommendations, but warned some required legislative changes that needed backing by the states and territories.
"The scheme will need to engage with the states and territories in relation to the recommendations but there is no guarantee that all or any of the recommendations will be accepted," she said.
Advocate Frank Golding said survivors are disappointed and frustrated with the year-old scheme, designed to deliver redress to about 60,000 people sexually abused as children in Australian institutions.
"They're happy that there is a scheme, but they are very, very disappointed and disillusioned and frustrated and angry because of the slowness and complexity of the process," he said.
The scheme has received more than 4000 applications since it began on July 1 last year.
So far, 215 payments have been made along with a further 80 offers of redress.
The Department of Social Services and Senator Ruston said applications were considered on a case-by-case basis and the scheme aimed to assess them in the shortest time possible.
"It can often be a survivor's first time coming forward," Senator Ruston said.
A departmental spokesperson said the scheme will continue to improve its processes, using feedback, to improve processing times and reduce the impact on people who are applying.
DSS said about 13 per cent of applications could not be processed because the institution involved had not joined the scheme.
Speaking after Care Leavers Australasia Network representatives met with Senator Ruston, Mr Golding said he believed some changes to the scheme were likely in the future although no guarantees were given.
"I got a good feeling that she's really very interested to see what she can do to make it a better process," he said.
Mr Golding said improvements could be made now to speed up the process and make it more user friendly, rather than waiting for a formal review scheduled for the scheme's two-year mark.
Prue Gregory, principal lawyer at free legal service Knowmore, hopes the review will be brought forward so shortcomings can be addressed.
"My feeling is the government is serious about considering that review and where changes could be made," she said.
Ms Gregory said priority cases involving survivors who are elderly or very ill were being processed with due haste, although more than a dozen of Knowmore's redress clients had died.
She believed the scheme was working well, but noted redress was only one option for survivors, especially after recent reforms to civil litigation.
"It is working the best we can do for a very complex scheme involving tens of thousands of possible applicants," Ms Gregory said.
Australian Associated Press
