An Australian woman who was acquitted of killing her four children has claimed she is stuck in limbo as she waits for compensation from the state government.
Kathleen Folbigg was once dubbed Australia’s worst serial killer after being wrongfully convicted of killing her children Caleb, Patrick, Laura and Sarah.
Her conviction was quashed in 2023 and Folbigg was released from prison after two decades behind bars.
Folbigg now lives in Newcastle but her attempts at starting afresh have been put on hold after the NSW government ignored her request for payment, her lawyer Rhanee Rego has claimed.
Instead of suing the government for wrongful imprisonment, Rego has requested something known as an ex gratia payment to avoid the cost and time of another court case.
An ex gratia is a voluntary payment is made without legal obligation, often as a gesture of goodwill.
NSW Attorney-General Michael Daley is in charge of approving an ex gratia payment.
It is understood Daley has declined to meet with her before he decides.
“There really is no comparative case at which we can set the amount that she may receive, I’ve suggested that around $20 million would be far, that’s around a million for every year that she served,” criminologist Xanthe Mallett told 9News.
“If she has to go forward and sue the government, that would take a very long time and it could also be expensive for her.”
NSW Premier Chris Minns said it was rare that a payment like this would be made outside of a civil court.
”I don’t think it’s appropriate to have meetings before he makes his decision,” Minns said of the attorney-general.
There have been cases of Australians successfully suing the government over wrongful convictions.
In 1995, David Eastman was offered $3 million by the ACT government after spending 19 years in prison for murder, but he challenged that payment and was awarded $7 million .
In 2014, the South Australian government paid Henry Keogh $2.57 million after his conviction for killing his fiancee was overturned.
