NSW: Wrongly convicted Kathleen Folbigg to get undisclosed payout

A woman who spent two decades in prison after being wrongfully convicted of killing her children will receive a compensation payment from the state government.

Kathleen Folbigg was jailed over the deaths of her four children before being freed in June 2023 after new scientific evidence cast reasonable doubt over her convictions.

On Thursday, NSW Attorney-General Michael Daley confirmed the government would make an ex gratia payment to the 57-year-old.

Ms Folbigg requested the details of the payment, including the amount, not be publicly shared, government officials said.

“The decision follows thorough and extensive consideration of the materials and issues raised in Ms Folbigg’s application and provided by her legal representatives,” Mr Daley said.

“The decision has been communicated to Ms Folbigg via her legal representatives.”

The claim was made more than a year ago.

Unlike court-run compensation claims with a series of precedents, ex gratia payments are one-off matters and are expected to be a decision of state cabinet.

Ms Folbigg joins Lindy Chamberlain as rare Australians long jailed but later acquitted and then compensated.

Ms Chamberlain and her former husband Michael were awarded an ex gratia payment of $1.3 million in 1992 for their prosecution in the Northern Territory over the death of baby daughter Azaria.

West Australian man Scott Austic in May received $1.3 million on top of an earlier payment of $250,000 after serving nearly 13 years for murdering his pregnant secret lover.

He’d sought $8.5 million after being acquitted in 2020 on appeal.

Both payments were ex gratia, unlike David Eastman who was awarded $7 million in damages by the ACT Supreme Court in 2019.

Ms Folbigg was convicted of three counts of murder and one count of manslaughter following the deaths of her children between 1989 and 1999.

She successfully appealed against her convictions after scientific discoveries in genetics and cardiology cast doubt on her guilt following two inquiries into her verdicts.

In 2024, Folbigg’s lawyer Rhanee Rego told AAP the compensation claim included a lengthy statement explaining her 24-year experience with the matter, submissions detailing errors by agents of government and an expert report assessing loss suffered by the former prisoner.

Ms Folbigg had previously sought a meeting with Premier Chris Minns, but he refused on the grounds she was in the middle of negotiations with the attorney-general.