Overturning old abuse deeds

New rules mean you can often have an old deed set aside and sue an offending institution for the full value of your claim

Sadly in the past, many survivors of institutional abuse have sued the offending institution but settled their claims for a fraction of their value. This may have been because of the massive legal hurdles that were in their way, including time limits and a legal defence the churches used called the Ellis defence. This was an unfair legal loophole that protected some institutions – particularly the Catholic Church – from being sued for historic sexual abuse.

You may feel or maybe you have been told you have given up your legal right to make a further claim for your abuse. However this is often not the case – you may be able to set aside the old deed and make another claim.

Having your old deed set aside

A deed is the binding legal document you signed during your previous claim to accept the settlement – even though you may not have been aware that you deserved and could have got a larger sum. Your deed would have stated you were giving up your right to sue the institution for further damages.

However, these rules have since changed.

Across Australia, all states now have rules that allow abuse survivors to go back to a Court to try to have their old settlement deeds set aside if the Court decides it is in the interests of justice to do so.

In Victoria, this legislation applies to deeds signed before 1 July 2018. Typically you have to show that legal hurdles – time limits and/or the Ellis defence – influenced your decision to accept an inadequate sum of money and give up your right to further compensation.

Rightside Legal was the first law firm in Australia to use these laws to set aside old unfair settlement deeds (in Victoria and Western Australia where the rules changed first) and we have got dozens of our clients out of old unfair settlement deeds.

In many cases our clients have been able to gain more than $1 million in further compensation.

Here are some examples of Rightside’s successes:

• “Joe” was abused at Monivae College, a boarding school in Hamilton, run by the Missionaries of the Sacred Heart, where multiple staff, Brothers and Priests physically and sexually abused students. Joe engaged Waller Legal, a Melbourne legal firm, which in 2016 got Joe a settlement of $75,000 inclusive of legal costs. In 2023, Joe approached Rightside Legal, and working closely with Joe we were able to get rid of his old settlement deed and we forced the Missionaries to pay Joe in excess of another $1.8 million plus legal costs and on top of his earlier $75,000.
• “Steve” was abused by a notorious Christian Brother at Cathedral College in Melbourne. With Waller Legal representing him, Steve accepted $210,000 inclusive of legal costs in 2016 and signed a deed giving up his legal rights. Steve later took on Rightside Legal to fix this injustice. After a long legal battle, Steve had his old deed set aside and sued the Christian Brothers for proper compensation. Ultimately we won Steve over $2.5 million in addition to his previous compensation.
• “Bill” was abused by a serial child abuser at Immaculate Heart College, a school run by the Marist Brothers. In November 2017, another law firm settled Bill’s claim for $185,000 inclusive of legal costs. In 2024, Bill engaged Rightside Legal to sue the Marist Brothers for proper compensation. With Rightside Legal, Bill found his voice, shared his story in court and was able to set aside his old deed. Rightside Legal made the Marist Brothers pay Bill just over $1.2 million plus legal costs. Bill kept his previous settlement too.

So if you have a settlement deed dated prior to 1 July 2018 and you believe it’s for an unfair and too-small sum, please get in touch. You may be able to set that deed aside. As a guide, most deeds entered into prior to 1 July 2015 are likely to be set aside.

Deeds entered into between 1 July 2015 and 1 July 2018 will be harder but still might be possible. Deeds entered into since 1 July 2018 will be extremely hard to set aside. But that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t reach out and speak to one of our team to see if we can help you.