It worked very well on the Canadian Human Rights Tribunal, which could make an order when a department or federal institution was found guilty of violating the Canadian Human Rights Act.
It could be an enforceable order requiring the institution to make a particular change or establish a program to increase officials' awareness of the requirements of the act by a certain date. Furthermore, if the tribunal found that the department had taken action that caused the complainant to lose money, it could issue an order to that effect and require the department to compensate the individual for the loss suffered as a result of the violation of his or her rights. The tribunal also had the option of ordering payment of punitive damages for psychological injury to the person as well as non-monetary damages.
That's what's done at the Canadian Human Rights Tribunal. It doesn't award damages in all cases, but it has the power to do so where it finds the institution has clearly failed to discharge its obligations. That may seem odd, but it sends a very strong public and symbolic message. I believe the message is clear when an institution is directed to pay punitive damages.