The NSW Government has announced it will make a compensation payment to Kathleen Folbigg, following her wrongful imprisonment.
In 2003, Folbigg was convicted of killing her four children, but it was later determined her children more likely died of natural causes. After 20 years in prison, Folbigg was pardoned in 2023.
The NSW Government did not disclose the amount it would pay Folbigg. However, a statement from her lawyer, Rhanee Rego, said Folbigg was offered $2 million.
Rego called the amount “woefully inadequate and ethically indefensible”.
Background
Folbigg’s first child, Caleb, was born in 1989. He died when he was 19 days old.
The cause of death was recorded as sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS), when a baby dies unexpectedly with no clear cause of death.
Over the next 10 years, Folbigg had three more children, all of whom died at the age of 18 months or younger.
In 2003, she was found guilty of killing her four children (three counts of murder and one of manslaughter). She was sentenced to a minimum of 25 years in prison, of which she served 20.
Release
While Folbigg was in prison, an inquiry was set up after new scientific evidence suggested her children could have died from natural causes.
Scientists found that a rare genetic mutation likely caused the death of her children.
Following the inquiry, NSW Attorney-General Michael Daley pardoned Folbigg, allowing her to walk free from prison in June 2023.
Folbigg then successfully appealed to the NSW Court of Criminal Appeal to have her criminal charges overturned.
Payment
Your contribution ensures The Daily Aus can continue doing the work you love.
I want to give $10 monthly to help TDA keep doing the news.
Your details:
In July 2024, Folbigg’s legal team requested the Government make her an ‘ex gratia’, or ‘Act of Grace’ payment.
The NSW Treasury describes this as a payment to “a person [who] has suffered a financial loss or other detriment” as a result of the Government’s actions.
It is made when a state doesn’t have a direct obligation to compensate the person, but finds it is “morally justifiable” to do so.
Last month, Rego told ABC radio she was unaware of any progress on her client’s compensation application.
At the time, NSW Premier Chris Minns said the process was more complicated than if Folbigg had gone to court to sue the Government.
On Thursday, Daley released a statement announcing the Government would make Folbigg an ex gratia payment of an unspecified amount.
“At Ms Folbigg’s request, the Attorney General and Government have agreed to not publicly discuss the details of the decision,“ the statement said.
Response
In a statement to media on Thursday, Rego said Folbigg was being paid an “unfair and unjust” amount of $2 million.
Rego pointed to the ex gratia payment made to Lindy Chamberlain, who was wrongfully imprisoned for the murder of her daughter.
“In 1994, [Chamberlain] received $1.7 million for three years in prison. Kathleen Folbigg spent two decades in prison, yet for her wrongful imprisonment she has been offered $2 million,” Rego said.
Upper house Greens MP Sue Higginson called the payment “go away money”.
“$2 million barely covers what Kathleen could have earned on a full-time salary over 20 years,” Higginson said.
“She has lost her four children, her home and her employability. She has racked up legal costs fighting her wrongful conviction, she has lost her superannuation, and she has been the victim of… wrongful imprisonment.”
