***Distressing content warning***

Presentation starts at 06:30

Presentation starts at 04:30

Evidence from Sonja Cooper and Amanda Hill on behalf of Cooper Legal addressed:

• The beginnings of the civil claims against the State for abuse in psychiatric hospitals and Social Welfare care;

• How the claims grew, and how the State responded – with a mixture of ‘listening’ forums and fierce, uncompromising defence in the Court;

• How State mechanisms such as the Courts and Legal Aid played a role in the claims process;

• The role of our human rights law – both national and international – in progressing the civil claims;

• Settlement processes both past and current, and why they are not fit for purpose; and

• The disadvantages experienced by many survivors, including: less access to information; fewer resources to obtain help; often poor literacy or mental health and economic circumstances which pressure them to accept amounts of compensation which do not reflect their experiences; and

• What they see as the way forward for the claims process as part of a larger truth and reconciliation process.