Once known as “Australia’s worst mother” but is now considered the victim of one of its biggest judicial abortions, Kathleen Folbigg received 20 years of compensation of $2 million (£975,580, $1.3 million).
Ms. Forbig was convicted of the death of four infants in 2003, but was released in 2023 after a judicial review of her case, finding that they may have died of a genetic condition.
Legal experts estimate that the 58-year-old can expect one of the highest compensation expenses in Australia’s history, more than $10 million.
But on Thursday, Ms. Foulbig’s lawyers said the government gave her $2 million, which they called her “very unfair and unjust”.
“The amount provided is a moral insult – serious inadequate and morally irrefutable,” Rhanee Rego said in a statement.
“The system failed again Katherine Folbig.”
NSW Attorney General Michael Daley said in a statement that the decision was based on “thorough and extensive” considerations for Ms. Foulbig’s application for compensation.
“At Ms. Forbig’s request, the Attorney General and the Government agreed not to discuss the details of the decision publicly.”
Ms. Forbig’s four infant children – Kaleb, Patrick, Sarah and Laura – died suddenly between 1989 and 1999, aged between 19 days and 18 months.
Prosecutors claimed at the trial that she suffocated them on circumstantial evidence, including Folbigg’s diary, to make her an unstable mother prone to anger.
In 2003, she was sentenced to 40 years in prison for murders by Sarah, Patrick and Laura and Caleb’s homicide, and was later appealed to 30 years.
Ms. Forbig has maintained her innocence and conducted a landmark investigation into her case in 2023, finding that her child may have died of natural causes due to extremely rare genetic mutations.
Ms. Rego said the payments offered to Ms. Folbig did not take into account the suffering she suffered.
“When Lindy Chamberlain was removed from office in 1994, she was sentenced to $1.7 million in prison,” she said, referring to another mother committing murder after her baby daughter took away a savage camping team from the campsite.
“Kathleen Folbigg was in jail for twenty years, but she received $2 million due to her illegal incarceration.”
Forensic criminologist Xanthe Mallett told the ABC after her release that she would “not be surprised” if the compensation was awarded more than $10 million.
Meanwhile, Professor Gary Edmond from the University of New South Wales told Guardian Australia that Ms Folbigg’s payout “must be the largest in the history of the country”.
Other local media reported that she could receive up to $20 million in losses.
