New South Wales Consolidated Acts

VICTIMS SUPPORT AND REHABILITATION ACT 1996 - SECT 26

26 Time for lodging applications

(1) An application for statutory compensation must be duly lodged within 2 years after the relevant act of violence occurred or, in the case of a family victim, within 2 years after the death of the primary victim.

(2) An application that is lodged out of time may be accepted with the leave of the Director.

(2A) The Director must not give leave for the acceptance of an application that is lodged out of time if:

(a) the application is for Victims Assistance, or

(b) except as provided by subsection (2B), the applicant is a family victim of the relevant act of violence.

(2B) The Director may give leave for the acceptance of an application that is lodged out of time by or on behalf of a family victim if the Director is satisfied that, on the date on which the application was lodged:

(a) the family victim was under 20 years of age, or

(b) no more than 2 years had elapsed since it was established (whether or not by a court) that the primary victim through whom the family victim’s claim has been made died as a direct result of the relevant act of violence.

(2C) However, the Director must not give leave under subsection (2B) if a total amount of $50,000 by way of statutory compensation has been awarded in respect of the relevant act of violence to one or more of the following:

(a) the primary victim,

(b) any person whose claim was made through that primary victim as a family or secondary victim,

(c) any person whose claim was made under section 33A in respect of the funeral expenses of that primary victim.

Note: $50,000 is the maximum amount that the primary victim of an act of violence and any other victims claiming through that victim are together eligible to receive. (See section 19 (3). See also sections 16 (1) and 33A (5).)

(3) The following policies apply to the giving of leave by the Director for the acceptance of an application lodged out of time:

(a) leave should not be given unless the applicant establishes that there is good reason to do so,

(b) however, leave should be given in cases of sexual assault, domestic violence or child abuse unless the Director is satisfied that there is no good reason to do so,

(c) leave should not be given merely because the applicant is unaware of the time within which applications should be lodged,

(d) the matters taken into account under section 30 (2) for the purpose of determining whether an act of violence was reported to a police officer within a reasonable time should also be taken into account for the purpose of determining whether there is a good reason for giving leave.