Since the release in September 2015 of the Redress and Civil Litigation report by the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to child sexual abuse, Carroll & O’Dea Lawyers have been at the forefront of initiating and progressing claims on behalf of survivors of sexual abuse as well as acting in the resolution of matters for some religious institutes.

 We have a dedicated team in respect of survivor claims headed by Partner Maithri Panagoda who has nearly four decades of experience in personal injury law.

 All of our clients are treated with understanding and empathy bearing in mind the traumatic experiences they have gone through.

 The approach we take is non-adversarial and the aim is to achieve a fair, just and reasonable resolution in a minimum amount of time.

 A successful claim involves a financial resolution reflecting justice and a personal apology.

All enquiries are handled confidentially.

An important message from Carroll & O’Dea Lawyers

Recently media has highlighted poor practices in some legal firms – not Carroll & O’Dea – in working with survivors of institutional child sexual abuse wanting to access the National Redress Scheme.

Carroll & O’Dea Lawyers refers all enquiries regarding the National Redress Scheme to Knowmore Legal which provides free legal advice to survivors of institutional child sexual abuse.

Further, our firm does not charge any fees for our involvement in referring survivors.

Our Firm does advise on, and accept instructions in relation to, potential common law claims relating to historical child abuse.


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Maithri Panagoda AM

Partner | Sydney

Educated in both Sydney and Sri Lanka, Maithri has over 40 years experience in litigation and dispute resolution. Maithri is regularly invited to present seminars to lawyers and university students.

Emily Katheklakis

Partner | Sydney

Emily Katheklakis has achieved successful outcomes for clients across the whole spectrum of personal injury matters.