Arnold Thomas & Becker has launched a class action against Knowmore Legal Service, with sexual abuse survivors alleging the service encouraged them to accept compensation payments that were lower than what they could have received.

The trauma Brian suffered from child sexual abuse impacted his health, relationships and ability to work for five decades.

In 2020, he received just $40,000 in compensation, after legal fees and other deductions were made.

“It felt like I was being kicked in the teeth,” he said.

Brian, who did not want his surname published, said his life was ruined by two paedophiles who abused him while he lived in a Salvation Army boys’ home in Melbourne’s east, between 1974 and 1976.

“To this day I still have nightmares, wake up in cold sweats. It never goes away,” Brian, now 62, said.

Lawyers from Arnold Thomas & Becker argue Brian could have received a much higher compensation payout.

In a statement of claim lodged in the Supreme Court of Victoria, they allege Brian’s former lawyers from the government-funded Knowmore Legal centre “breached its duty of care” to him.

Knowmore is alleged to have encouraged Brian to accept compensation through the National Redress Scheme, where payouts are capped at $150,000, instead of directly pursuing the Salvation Army in court.

Kim Price, a partner with Arnold Thomas & Becker, said potentially thousands of other abuse survivors around the country were in the same position as Brian.

Mr Price said collectively, Knowmore’s former clients had potentially missed out on millions of dollars in compensation.

“What we’ve found is that the advice that many of these individuals have received from Knowmore Legal service was completely devoid and deficient in terms of personalised, tailored advice in relation to the value of the claim that the person was giving up,” he said.

Mr Price said the class action would be run on a no win, no fee basis, and acknowledged the case could take years to drag through the courts.