Minister Anne Ruston has apologised to a survivor who had her application to Australia’s National Redress Scheme shared with another survivor via the government’s myGov portal.
Australian Minister for Families and Social Services Anne Ruston has apologised to a survivor who had their personal information breached when the details of their application to the National Redress Scheme were uploaded directly to another person’s myGov account. «I regret most sincerely that this error has occurred, and that any trauma or distress that has been caused to the person whose information has been incorrectly uploaded, I believe those sentiments were passed on to the person directly by the officer who contacted her, but yes, I deeply regret what’s happened,» Ruston told Senate Estimates on Thursday morning. The National Redress Scheme provides support to people who have experienced institutional child sexual abuse. The scheme started on 1 July 2018, and is currently planned to run for 10 years. As first reported by 10 News Queensland, the survivor’s information was uploaded to the account of another survivor. This comprised 12 pages of highly confidential information, including address, phone number, bank account details, and Centrelink number, as well as their application to the scheme outlining the sexual abuse they had suffered. Ruston told senators she was made aware of the breach on the weekend. Department of Social Services deputy secretary Liz Hefren-Webb said she was told last Friday. The representatives were asked if they could give an ironclad guarantee that such a breach would not occur again.
