Payment of Grace’s legal fees in question

Health Minister Simon Harris is scrambling to address concerns the commission of investigation into the Grace foster abuse scandal cannot cover the victim’s legal fees because of a blind spot in existing laws.

The Department of Health confirmed the situation after Mr Harris was warned by commission representatives in recent days that the issue means Grace will have to pay her own legal fees while those accused of wrongdoing will not.

The commission was set up in March after two damning reports into the most serious physical and sexual abuse allegations surrounding the Grace foster abuse scandal were made public after years of delays.