Labor is fuming at the breaches and has renewed calls to improve the redress scheme for abuse survivors.

In evidence to a Senate estimates hearing, Department of Social Services officials said there had been 10 privacy breaches in the scheme.

They include institutions receiving survivor impact statements outlining the effect of abuse on their lives, without the consent of the applicant.

Requests for information had also not been properly redacted and were provided to institutions.

One redress applicant received the application of another abuse survivor.

Other breaches involved Services Australia losing information provided from two abuse survivors, and two applications sent to unrelated parties by mail.

Labor's social services spokeswoman Linda Burney says those affected had been let down by the very process that was meant to acknowledge their abuse.

"It's a difficult, painful and complex process, we understand that," she told parliament on Thursday.

"But we also must not forget our paramount duty to survivors is to get it right. Many of the deficiencies of this scheme arise from the fact the scheme does not reflect the original recommendations of the royal commission.

"We owe it to survivors to get it right."

Officials apologised for the breaches and said they were due to administrative error, with training since improved.

Ms Burney is calling for redress payments to be capped at $200,000 instead of $150,000 as recommended from the royal commission into institutional child sexual abuse.

She is also urging the government to allow advance payments within the scheme.

Senators were also told 52 survivors had died before payments were made.

The average application processing time is about one year, while 61 institutions subject to an application are now defunct.

Australian Associated Press