As “out of grace” payments, the state may award ex gratia compensation without explanation or obligation and its decisions are final and not reviewable. [FN53] In the current sample, 47% of known Australian exonerees filed an ex gratia claim before 2011. [FN54] There are currently no guidelines associated with ex gratia payments for wrongful conviction, [FN55] but awards are generally calculated by demonstrable damage or loss experienced as a result of the wrongful conviction. [FN56] Judicial interpretation can provide some lucidity to *1337 the decision making process, [FN57] as can a public statement by a governmental body, [FN58] although neither is required. [FN59] Instead, consideration of the ex gratia applications are done in secrecy and the factors relevant to the decisions are undisclosed. [FN60] This lack of transparency has been criticized as unjust, inadequate, and one which produces awards that are arbitrary. [FN61] The discretionary nature of these payments, whether to award, and the amount of payment creates a risk that the government will respond to high profile cases more so than cases that receive little media or political attention. [FN62] These shortcomings may be highly problematic for jurisdictions, such as Australia, that rely on ex gratia payments as the primary method of compensation in the absence of compensation statutes.