How much Kathleen Folbigg could get in compensation

Pardoned child killer Kathleen Folbigg could receive millions in compensation after spending the last 20 years behind bars.

Folbigg received an unconditional pardon and was released from Grafton jail on Monday after an inquiry heard there was reasonable doubt about her guilt following her 2003 conviction over the deaths of her four children.

Sentenced to 30 years in prison and not eligible for parole until 2028, the mother of four always maintained her innocence. 

In the wake of the pardon, which does not quash her conviction but frees her from jail, Lawyer Rhanee Rego revealed compensation could be on the cards for her client. 

‘We haven’t spoken to her about this. She is very much trying to focus on taking one step in front of the other and not rush into things because she has just been waiting to feel the grass on her feet, look at the sky and watch the sunrise for the first time in 20 years,’ Ms Rego said.

‘Kathleen is still having a cup of tea, acquainting herself to normal life, and we are just getting used to not speaking to her in a prison over an AVL call.

‘We are taking it one step at a time, but in due course, we will certainly be thinking about all options available to her.

‘We won’t be rushing her and pushing her to do anything. She does not need to do until she is ready.’

First, Ms Folbigg’s convictions need to be quashed in the Court of Criminal Appeal before compensation avenues can be discussed.

Figures from as little $1million up to $20 million have already been speculated in the media.

‘She not only lost one child, she has lost four and been in jail for 20 years,’ Ms Rego said.

‘The system has failed her at every step.

‘Instead of trying to understand why her children died, potentially through an inquest… we threw her in jail, locked her up and called her Australia’s worst female serial killer.’

Robyn Blewer, director of the Griffith University Innocence Project, pointed to two recent cases to indicate the extent to which Folbigg could be compensated for her 7,300 days in jail.

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

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

Both payments were voluntary, while David Eastman was awarded $7million in damages by the ACT Supreme Court in 2019 after his wrongful conviction for the murder of Australian Federal Police assistant commissioner Colin Winchester.

Dr Blewer said the amount Folbigg received might depend on what the government was willing to pay.

‘Twenty years is a substantial amount of time lost,’ she said.

‘It might depend on the good grace of the NSW government.’

On Tuesday morning, her best friend and biggest supporter, Tracy Chapman, shared candid details about Ms Folbigg’s first night of freedom.

Folbigg spent Monday on Ms Chapman’s farm getting to know the animals and was just happy to get her first ‘proper’ sleep in 20 years.

‘She slept for the first time in a real bed, had a cup of tea in a real crockery cup, real spoons to stir with,’ her friend said.

‘That sounds basic to you all, but she’s grateful. Decent tea, real milk.’

Folbigg did get one special request.

‘She asked for a kahlua and coke. It was a flashback to the last 20 years,’ Ms Chapman said, laughing.

However, there was no time to cook the dinner of T-bone steak Folbigg had dreamed of for years in jail. Instead, the party of about 12 settled for pizza.

‘Even the television, she was going “Oh my God, look at the television, it got so many capabilities”, so she was able to go “Oh my God, I can watch so much”.

Ms Folbigg’s best friend Tracy Chapman (left) and lawyer Rhanee Rego (right) described her first night of freedom after 20 years behind bars

Folbigg was also convicted for murdering her son Patrick (pictured left) and the manslaughter death of her firstborn son Caleb (pictured right)

‘We were explaining you could actually watch all these television shows and you don’t have to sit there at 7.30 and watch a show anymore. She was like “This is amazing”.’

Ms Chapman recalled getting 40 minutes’ notice on Monday that her friend was about to be freed from prison.

‘I basically knew she was coming out the door, and then she’d be there in 40 minutes so to go from 20 years to it happening… I was kind of cursing because I just went “this is not how it’s supposed to happen”.

‘The whole thing could have been done a lot better. Kath didn’t find out, I didn’t find out, we would have appreciated a bit more notice and there’s so many things she will say about that eventually.’

Ms Chapman added her friend looks forward to the future while taking each day as it comes.

‘I think she is looking forward to making her flat her own, being able to choose her own furniture and do her own thing and clothes and stuff, she’s only got things we’ve given her so she is looking forward to starting afresh.’

Kathleen Folbigg, (above before her 2003 conviction) has since spent two decades behind bars for the deaths of her children

Folbigg was convicted of the murders of Sarah (left) and Laura (pictured right) along with her two sons, but scientists later said Folbigg should be pardoned because the two girls’ deaths could be explained by genetics