Kathleen Folbigg has condemned the NSW attorney-general’s $2 million ex gratia offer for her wrongful imprisonment, calling the sum “woefully inadequate and ethically indefensible”.
Folbigg, once labelled Australia’s worst female serial killer after her 2003 conviction for the deaths of her four children, Patrick, Sarah, Laura and Caleb between 1989 and 1999, was released in 2023 when her convictions were quashed.
She applied for an ex gratia payment, a voluntary payment made without legal obligation, usually as an act of goodwill, to avoid taking legal action against the state. NSW Attorney-General Michael Daley has since assessed her application and offered $2 million.
“The decision follows thorough and extensive consideration of the materials and issues raised in Ms Folbigg’s application and provided by her legal representatives,” his office said in a statement.
“The decision has been communicated to Ms Folbigg via her legal representatives.”
Folbigg’s solicitor, Rhanee Rego, described the offer as “profoundly unfair and unjust”.
“The sum offered is a moral affront, woefully inadequate and ethically indefensible,” Rego said. “The system has failed Kathleen Folbigg once again.
“Kathleen lost her four children; she lost 20 of the best years of her life; and she continues to feel the lasting effects of this ongoing trauma.
“The payment does not reflect the extent of the pain and suffering Kathleen has endured.
“This should be about the system recognising the significance of what it did to her.”
The $2 million offer sits alongside other notable payments to people later exonerated. When Lindy Chamberlain was cleared over the death of her baby in 1994 she received $1.7 million for three years behind bars. In 2015 David Eastman, who spent 19 years in prison for murder, was initially offered $3 million but successfully challenged the payout and was awarded $7 million. In 2014 Henry Keogh received $2.57 million after his conviction for killing his fiancée was overturned.
Through her solicitor, Folbigg is calling for an inquiry into how the state reached the $2 million figure.
“Kathleen Folbigg’s fight should be over. After being failed at her conviction and abused in prison, she is now being treated with contempt by the very system that should be making amends,” Rego said.
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