28 July 2025

We have developed a consumer fact sheet to help safeguard people in vulnerable situations from the harmful practice of ‘claim farming’. Claim farming can happen in relation to government redress schemes designed to support and compensate people who have been seriously harmed by government policy or within institutions.

Claim farming sees third party businesses make unsolicited contact with victim-survivors of institutional childhood sexual abuse and members of the Stolen Generations. Often, they use unethical and high-pressure tactics to coerce people into making a claim, which they then on-sell to lawyers. 

Sometimes these lawyers can make the person think they need to pay for their help to apply for redress or start legal action, which is not the case.

The consumer fact sheet explains what claim farming is, what people can do if they’re contacted by a claim farmer, and how to contact us if they‘re worried about what a lawyer has done. People who are weighing up their options are encouraged to read this information so they can better protect themselves if they are approached by a claim farmer.

As the body that regulates lawyers in Victoria, we’ve also recently issued guidance reminding them of their ethical obligations, and warning of the consequences of being involved in claim farming.