The Government is defending its budgeting for the torture redress of Lake Alice survivors. 

It's set aside more than $22 million for eligible survivors who were tortured at the psychiatric hospital in the 1970s. 

They'll be able to choose between a one-off $150 thousand payment or apply for independently assessed redress. 

Lead coordination minister Erica Stanford told Heather du Plessis-Allan it was a hard call to settle on $150 thousand. 

She says there's no precedent for this situation anywhere in the world – other countries have paid out for torture in very different circumstance and the victims were adults. 

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