Institutional Redress
Paradox of Service
Research into the hidden harm faced by women who left religious orders — and the advocacy it sparked.
A Lifetime of Unpaid Service
Uncovering a Hidden History
Close to two decades ago, a former nun walked into VWT’s office, unannounced, with a story that was hard to hear. She had spent decades in a convent, working hard and contributing strongly to her Order. On leaving, she received nothing. No spiritual or material support, no acknowledgement of her service, nothing to prepare her for re-entering secular life after so long inside it. What followed was economic insecurity, deteriorating physical and mental health, and a deep emotional hurt at having been treated with what she experienced as callous disinterest.
As feminist and non-religious organisation, there was little VWT could do to help her directly. But we could research her story, and find out whether it pointed to a wider, systemic issue.
Bringing the Story to Light
Working with volunteers Susan Powell and Hilary Irwin, VWT gathered the accounts of many women who had left religious life, mostly in the wake of Vatican II in the early 1960s, and consulted canon lawyers and senior religious about the departure policies (or lack thereof) inside these institutions. The research, Paradox of Service, found the same pattern again and again: no departure policies or practices in place, and consequently, lifetimes of hardship and hurt.
On release, the report drew media attention around the world, and VWT was inundated with stories from women and men alike, all describing the same institutional neglect. It was reported in The Irish Times, and in 2010 formed the basis of an ABC Compass documentary, The Nun’s Story.
"Your report made me weep with sadness for myself and for all those others who, like me, were innocent and high minded about doing and being good in the service of the church."
Anonymous
From Research to Redress
Publishing the research made it clear that the women affected were unlikely to ever find the confidence to walk back through convent gates and demand justice. So VWT took the next step: building an Independent Advocacy Program from scratch, with no funding; just capacity, time, and intent.
Over six years, Trust volunteers Hilary and Susan patiently gathered the personal stories of former nuns, one by one. They knocked on convent doors, sat down with the heads of Orders, and advocated on behalf of the women they represented. Each time they requested the same three things: an apology, a Statement of Service, and a measure of material redress.
Every advocacy case was settled with each survivor receiving a form of personal redress she’d once thought unimaginable. One woman used her settlement to renovate her bathroom for older age and buy a new car — which she named Trusty, after the Victorian Women’s Trust.
Shaping National Policy
The advocacy experience built through Paradox of Service fed directly into national policy debate. In March 2015, VWT made a submission to the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse, focused specifically on the design of personal redress. In 2018, the Hon. Cathy McGowan MP acknowledged VWT’s work in a speech to the Senate on the Royal Commission and the National Redress Scheme.
The advocacy experience gained through this work — sitting down with the heads of Orders, negotiating apologies, Statements of Service, and material redress case by case — continues to inform VWT’s perspective on institutional accountability today.
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