A narrow vote in federal parliament has shown there is political appetite to increase the cap on payments for survivors of child sex abuse.
Existing redress payments are capped at $150,000, but Labor wants the ceiling increased to $200,000.
A bill tweaking the scheme passed parliament on Monday evening, stamping into law technical changes allowing more information to be made public on institutions that have not joined.
Labor failed to secure a raft of amendments to the bill, which largely called on the responsible minister to consider various issues.
One was for Social Services Minister Anne Ruston to consider what needs to occur for redress payments to increase to $200,000 from $150,000, and prepare a report on action taken within 90 days of the bill passing.
The amendment failed by two votes despite the Greens, independent senator Rex Patrick and Centre Alliance's Stirling Griff siding with Labor.
The federal government is waiting to receive recommendations from a review of the scheme before making any changes.
The independent review is due to be finished by the end of February, with former senior mental health bureaucrat Robyn Kruk looking at how the scheme is working for survivors.
Senator Ruston says Ms Kruk has consulted with many survivors and wants to act on their feedback.
The review is expected to canvass issues raised in Labor's amendments, including further ways to ensure institutions join the scheme.
The scheme began in 2018 after being recommended by the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse.
It provides access to counselling, redress payments and a direct personal response such as an apology from an institution, if the survivor wants it.
But they can't be given redress unless the institution they were abused by has joined the scheme.
