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  • Catholic Clergy Claims
    Catholic Clergy Claims
    Dr Vivian Waller has acted in claims against Catholic Clergy since 1995.
  • State Ward Claims
    State Ward Claims
    Dr Viv Waller has acted for former wards of the state of Victoria since 1997 when she commenced group litigation on behalf of many former residents of the Ballarat Orphanage who were abused in care.
  • The Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse
    The Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse
    Established in January 2013, the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse investigated how institutions like schools, churches and sporting groups responded to allegations of child sexual abuse.

The Work We Do

Waller Legal is a high profile legal practice dedicated to assisting survivors of institutional childhood sexual abuse.

The Work We Do

We help people obtain compensation for the psychological and physical injuries caused by institutional childhood sexual abuse. 

Civil Litigation

Where litigation is in your best interest, we will walk with you every step of the way.  We will give you independent and fearless advice including an honest appraisal of the pros and cons and the costs.

We are experienced in litigation in the Supreme, County and Magistrates Courts in Victoria. 

In 2005 our Principal Solicitor, Dr Vivian Waller, ran a successful High Court Appeal on behalf of Carol Stingel, who won the right to sue her abuser Geoff Clark.

The ‘Betrayal of Trust’ report that followed the 2013 Victorian Parliamentary Inquiry into the handling of child abuse by religious and other non-governmental organisations recommended legislative change in Victoria.

The Limitations of Actions Amendment (Criminal Child Abuse) Act 2015, introduced as law on 1 July 2015, removed the limitation of actions period for all relevant child abuse claims.

This means that even though your abuse may have occurred many years ago it is still possible to bring a compensation claim.

Out of Court Settlements (or Alternative Dispute Resolution)

We also help people settle their claims out of court.  We’ve resolved lots of cases out of court against institutions such as the Salvation Army, and we have taken cases against the Scouts and the YMCA. We have resolved hundreds of cases for clients who have been sexually abused by Catholic Clergy, particularly Christian Brothers and Catholic priests.

Clients we assist

Survivors of Catholic Clergy Abuse

We assist people who have been sexually abused by members of the Catholic Clergy, or by lay people associated with Catholic Institutions. This includes people who have been sexually abused by members of the Christian Brothers, Diocese of Ballarat, Salesians of Don Bosco, and more.

State Wards

We look after former state wards who were sexually abused while in residential institutions, children’s homes and orphanages.  Dr Vivian Waller has been running state ward cases since the mid 1990’s, when she ran claims on behalf of clients abused as children at the Ballarat Orphanage.  Our work with care leavers has continued to be a very important part of our practice.

Indigenous Australians

We act for Indigenous Australians in relation to abuse in missions, schools and orphanages.  

TESTIMONIALS

Read some words of praise from previous clients.

In pursuit of justice
In The News
Testimonials

  • Dear Vivian,

    I wish to thank you for everything you have done to enable me to feel some justice has been achieved with the hope that the Catholic Church recognises it’s failings and addresses them.  In doing so, the Catholic Church can continue in the future, without public cynicism and to keep alive the central message of all religion, “to love thy neighbour as you would love yourself”.

    Essentially, this is asking us to step into another’s shoes before we judge them.  I feel that you did this for me during my conversations with me, and this made it easier for me to go through the whole process.  I also won’t forget the thoroughness and delightful manner of your staff.

    JA

  • Yes indeed, thank you Vivian for your perseverance and dedication in doing whatever you can to bring about some justice in the absence of a full ecclesiastical council/court to judge publicly those who have violated not only the natural law, but the law of God in whose name these violations have taken place.

    Kathleen

  • Everything is different now.  My journey is over now.

    KF

  • Dear Viv and Staff, thank you so much. You are all wonderful.

    E, L & J

  • You are a wonderful warrior for truth and justice.

    Mary

  • Thank you so much for all of your hard work this year getting my VOCAT application together, and for the fantastic outcome. While I am still dealing with the emotional ramifications of what happened to me, I now feel like I have the means to continue rebuilding myself and my life. Thank you.

    CC

  • Thank you for what you did, what you said and who you are, your thoughtfulness will always be remembered with more gratitude that you could ever know.

    Cheryl

  • What Dr Waller has achieved for me is nothing short of a miracle.  At the age of 60 I was feeling very upset at the abuse that I had encountered as a very young girl at the hands of a Salesian Brother.  My dealings with the Salesians many years later to try and resolve the matter left a very bitter taste in my mouth.  In fact, they made me feel abused all over again.  Vivian Waller was referred to me by Broken Rites, and that was the day my life changed.  I am so grateful that my words feel a little trite.

    Vivian has a no nonsense approach, keeps you on track, is honest, and like a dog with a bone, she keeps you going to have the desired outcome.  The world needs more Vivians.  Myself and my family are forever grateful to you.  Thanks mate, you’re my hero.

    Cathie

  • Six years after the settlement:

    It has been a long and well-travelled road for our girl, but I never thought I would see the day when she is as happy as she is now.  I was so happy when she decided to study nursing!  The settlement that she received enabled her to study full time over the past three years without having to worry about working while studying.

    What happened to our daughter, and to us as a family, will never go away, however, our daughter has managed to pick up the fragments of her life and move on. The horrors of what have happened will not disappear, perhaps just fade as more joyful occasions occur in her life.

    I want all of you to know what a tower of strength and support you were to all of us and that without you, our daughter’s life would have turned out very differently.

    You are always in our thoughts with gratitude for what you achieved.

    TJ

  • Again we cannot thank you enough for all your dedication and hard work over the past few years, we would not have made it without your persistence and dogged determination to get this to settlement stage, many others would have settled for less. We now have a girl who has beaten the odds, and whose self esteem has rocketed, is confident, and especially is calm!

    We wish you all good things in life, as without lawyers like yourself who will take the risk of taking on the "untouchables" we would not have kept our girl on track or most importantly, alive. The road for her is still to be traveled, but this will assist in making the journey less troubled, and we hope with time and continued therapy she will see herself as a complete person and not as a shadow of who she could be.

    You will be forever in our thoughts.

    TJ
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