• Catholic Clergy Claims
    Catholic Clergy Claims
    Dr Vivian Waller has acted in claims against Catholic Clergy since 1995.
  • State Ward Claims
    State Ward Claims
    Dr Viv Waller has acted for former wards of the state of Victoria since 1997 when she commenced group litigation on behalf of many former residents of the Ballarat Orphanage who were abused in care.
  • The Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse
    The Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse
    Established in January 2013, the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse investigated how institutions like schools, churches and sporting groups responded to allegations of child sexual abuse.

State Ward Claims

Dr Viv Waller has acted for former wards of the state of Victoria since 1997 when she commenced group litigation on behalf of many former residents of the Ballarat Orphanage who were abused in care.

State Wards Claims

OVERVIEW

Waller Legal has extensive experience in representing former State Wards in seeking compensation and justice.

Many former State Wards experienced abuse and ill treatment during their time in care.

If you were a State Ward then the Government was your legal guardian and was responsible for making sure you were properly cared for.  The relevant Department went by many names including the Children’s Welfare Department, the Social Welfare Department and the Department of Community Welfare Services and the Department of Health and Humans Services. In Victoria, it is now known as the Department of Families, Fairness and Housing (DFFH). 

We have assisted many clients to pursue claims against the State of Victoria and receive compensation.  Sometimes the Department placed wards in homes and orphanages run by other organisations.  We seek compensation from those other organisations too, such as the Christian Brothers, who ran St Augustine’s Boys Home in Geelong and St Vincent’s Boys Home in South Melbourne.

We have successfully resolved many claims against the State, and other religious and non-government organisations, through a negotiated process.  Where negotiation does not deliver an appropriate result, we have also litigated cases against the State of Victoria.

In August 2015, Waller Legal represented two former State Wards who appeared as survivor-witnesses in the Child Abuse Royal Commission public hearing into State Run Youth Training and Reception Centres.  This hearing examined the experiences of former child residents at Turana Youth Training Centre, Winlaton Youth Training Centre and Baltara Reception Centre between the 1960s and early 1990s.

Waller Legal currently represents a large number of former State Wards in compensation claims in relation to abuse they experienced in these institutions. 

We also act for large numbers of men who were sexually abused in children's homes run by the Christian Brothers – St Augustine's in Geelong and St Vincent's in South Melbourne, in particular.

Waller Legal has experience representing former State Wards in relation to sexual abuse.  We have acted for care leavers from many institutions, including: 

  • Abbotsford Convent
  • Allambie
  • Anglicare
  • Ballarat Orphanage / Ballarat Children’s Home
  • Baltara Reception Centre
  • Bayswater Boys’ Home
  • Bendigo Training Centre
  • Box Hill Boys’ Home
  • Brophy Memorial Hostel
  • Burwood Boys’ Home
  • Glastonbury Orphanage
  • Good Shepherds Sisters Convent
  • Kardinia Children’s Home
  • Kent Town
  • Kildonan
  • Lyndon Lodge
  • Malmsbury Youth Training Centre
  • Menzies Home for Children
  • Morning Star Boys’ Home
  • Nazareth Boys’ Home
  • Nazareth House
  • Orana, the Peace Memorial Homes for Children
  • Royal Park Depot
  • Sandhurst Boys’ Home
  • St Aiden’s Orphanage
  • St Augustine’s Orphanage
  • St Catherine’s Children’s Home / St Catherine’s Orphanage
  • St John’s Home for Boys and Girls
  • St Vincent de Paul Girls Orphanage
  • St Vincent de Paul Black Rock
  • St Vincent’s South Melbourne
  • Tally Ho
  • Turana Youth Training Centre
  • Winlaton Youth Training Centre

 

 

If you wish to investigate a potential civil claim against the State Government, please call us on 03 9415 9999 to have a confidential discussion about your options.
In pursuit of justice
In The News
Testimonials
  • Thank you so much for all of your hard work this year getting my VOCAT application together, and for the fantastic outcome. While I am still dealing with the emotional ramifications of what happened to me, I now feel like I have the means to continue rebuilding myself and my life. Thank you.

    CC
  • It has been a long journey trying to get the Missionaries of the Sacred Heart to be held accountable for how they looked after me as a child many years ago.  Words cannot express how grateful I am to Viv Waller and her team who work tirelessly behind the scenes in getting justice.  For others who are considering seeking remuneration again an organisation that failed to look after your safety and well-being, I have no hesitation in recommending Waller Legal. 

    DR
  • Dear Vivian,

    I wish to thank you for everything you have done to enable me to feel some justice has been achieved with the hope that the Catholic Church recognises it’s failings and addresses them.  In doing so, the Catholic Church can continue in the future, without public cynicism and to keep alive the central message of all religion, “to love thy neighbour as you would love yourself”.

    Essentially, this is asking us to step into another’s shoes before we judge them.  I feel that you did this for me during my conversations with me, and this made it easier for me to go through the whole process.  I also won’t forget the thoroughness and delightful manner of your staff.

    JA
  • Thank you Vivian, I really appreciate all your help, you have given me a second chance in life.

    RF
  • As a mother, I write to express my gratitude to you and your team for the support of my daughter following her sexual assault three years ago.  Although the bloke who assaulted her was not charged the dollars being awarded to her following your intervention certainly acknowledges the wrong that was done – and will I hope, help her to move on.  Thank you for the work you do.  With much gratitude and appreciation.

    PS
  • Thank you for what you did, what you said and who you are, your thoughtfulness will always be remembered with more gratitude that you could ever know.

    Cheryl
  • I would like to thank you for acting on behalf in regards to the Christian Brothers.  Your logo “in pursuit of justice” says it all.  I didn’t know what to expect and very nearly withdrew from the whole process, but I am happy I didn’t.

    The most rewarding aspect for me was the sensitivity and warmth shown by you in relation to a very complex and emotional matter.  Also the knowledge that there are people willing to stand up on behalf of people like me has a healing effect.  I would also like to thank your staff for their warm and professional matter in this whole process.  You said to me during the phone appointment that you counted it a privilege to act for people like me.  Well Dr Waller, the privilege was all mine.  I wish you all the best in the future.

    JC
  • Again we cannot thank you enough for all your dedication and hard work over the past few years, we would not have made it without your persistence and dogged determination to get this to settlement stage, many others would have settled for less. We now have a girl who has beaten the odds, and whose self esteem has rocketed, is confident, and especially is calm!

    We wish you all good things in life, as without lawyers like yourself who will take the risk of taking on the "untouchables" we would not have kept our girl on track or most importantly, alive. The road for her is still to be traveled, but this will assist in making the journey less troubled, and we hope with time and continued therapy she will see herself as a complete person and not as a shadow of who she could be.

    You will be forever in our thoughts.

    TJ
  • Yes indeed, thank you Vivian for your perseverance and dedication in doing whatever you can to bring about some justice in the absence of a full ecclesiastical council/court to judge publicly those who have violated not only the natural law, but the law of God in whose name these violations have taken place.

    Kathleen
  • Everything is different now.  My journey is over now.

    KF
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