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AAP
AAP
National
Luke Costin

Premier to probe 'delay' in Folbigg compensation claim

The premier says he will examine the compensation claim made by Kathleen Folbigg since her pardon. (Dean Lewins/AAP PHOTOS)

Kathleen Folbigg hopes to personally tell the NSW premier how her wrongful conviction still impacts her life as the state weighs a potential multimillion-dollar payout.

The 57-year-old could receive a sizeable ex-gratia payment in line with sums awarded to Lindy Chamberlain and others long jailed but later acquitted.

Ms Folbigg spent more than 20 years in prison over the deaths of her four children before being freed in June 2023 after new scientific evidence cast reasonable doubt over her convictions.

Kathleen Folbigg
Kathleen Folbigg hopes to tell the premier how her wrongful conviction still impacts her life. (Dan Himbrechts/AAP PHOTOS)

The pardoned woman recently met with state MPs from across the political spectrum as she awaits an answer on her compensation claim submitted in late July.

It triggered Shooters MP Robert Borsak to press government officials on Wednesday about why she had received "no response whatsoever".

"She literally has no means of support, she does need to get some compensation," he told a budget estimates hearing.

Ms Folbigg's claim was being "actively considered", Cabinet Office secretary Kate Boyd replied.

Premier Chris Minns said he had not seen the claim but would examine it.

"I'll do that and find where it's up to, and understand what the circumstances are that have resulted in a delay," he told the parliamentary hearing.

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

Attorney-General Michael Daley in March said he would not proactively invite Ms Folbigg to apply, despite the case's nationwide profile and an inevitability that a payment would be made.

Ms Folbigg's claim includes a lengthy statement explaining what has happened to her over the past 24 years, submissions detailing errors by agents of government and an expert report assessing loss suffered by the former prisoner, her lawyer Rhanee Rego told AAP.

The 57-year-old has also sought a meeting with Mr Minns.

"We have not heard back yet," Ms Rego said.

"Ms Folbigg is hopeful the premier will meet with her so she has opportunity to explain in her own words how her wrongful conviction impacted and continues to impact her life."

Kathleen Folbigg appears at a convictions inquiry in 2019
Kathleen Folbigg appealed her convictions after scientific discoveries cast doubt on her guilt. (Danny Casey/AAP PHOTOS)

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.

The offices of the premier and attorney-general did not respond to questions about whether the department had responded to Ms Folbigg, the provision of any interim payments or a timeline to consider the claim.

"Every application is considered on its own facts and in its own context," a spokesman for Mr Daley said.

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