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This is a Bill, not an Act. For current law, see the Acts databases.
Queensland
Victims of Crime Assistance
Bill 2009
Queensland
Victims of Crime Assistance Bill 2009
Contents
Page
Chapter 1 Preliminary
1 Short title . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
2 Commencement . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
3 Purposes of Act . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
4 Definitions. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
Chapter 2 Fundamental principles of justice for victims
Part 1 Preliminary
5 Meaning of victim . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
6 Purposes of declaring principles . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
7 Principles do not give legal rights or affect legal rights or
obligations ...................................... 14
Part 2 Declaration of fundamental principles
8 Fair and dignified treatment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
9 Privacy of victim . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
10 Information about services . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
11 Information about investigation of offender. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
12 Information about prosecution of offender . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18
13 Victim to be advised on role as witness . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18
14 Contact between victim and accused to be minimised. . . . . . . . . 18
15 Giving details of impact of crime on victim during sentencing . . . 19
16 Information about convicted offender . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21
Part 3 Implementing principles
17 Guidelines and processes for compliance with principles . . . . . . 23
18 Conduct to be consistent with principles . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23
19 Victim may make complaint . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23
20 Dealing with complaint . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24
Victims of Crime Assistance Bill 2009
Contents
Chapter 3 Victims financial assistance scheme
Part 1 General
21 Scheme for financial assistance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25
22 Other rights etc. not affected . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26
23 Assistance for victim available only in 1 capacity . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27
24 Effect of death on eligibility for assistance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27
Part 2 Basic concepts
25 Meaning of act of violence . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27
26 Who is a primary, secondary, parent secondary, witness
secondary or related victim . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29
27 Meaning of injury . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30
28 When exceptional circumstances exist. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31
29 When person incurs expenses . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32
30 References to government assessor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32
Part 3 Relationship with workers' compensation
31 Application of pt 3. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33
32 Relationship generally . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33
33 When a person's workers' compensation application is finally
dealt with ......................................... 35
34 Generally workers' compensation application finally dealt with
before victim assistance application . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35
35 Application for particular victim assistance can be made earlier . 37
36 Amendment of assistance after workers' compensation
application decided. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37
Part 4 Primary victims
37 Eligibility for assistance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39
38 Amount of assistance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40
39 Composition of assistance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40
Part 5 Parent secondary victims
40 Eligibility for assistance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41
41 Amount of assistance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41
42 Composition of assistance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42
Part 6 Witness secondary victims
43 Eligibility for assistance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43
44 Amount of assistance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43
45 Composition of assistance--witness to more serious act of
violence ........................................ 43
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Victims of Crime Assistance Bill 2009
Contents
46 Composition of assistance--witness to less serious act of
violence ...................................... 44
Part 7 Related victims
47 Eligibility for assistance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45
48 Amount of assistance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45
49 Composition of assistance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46
Part 8 Person who incurs funeral expenses for primary victim's
funeral
50 Eligibility and assistance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47
Part 9 Applying for victim assistance
51 Who may apply for victim assistance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48
52 Form of application. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49
53 Details of other victims . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50
54 Time limit . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51
55 Applying for victim assistance and funeral expense assistance
together ...................................... 52
Part 10 Applying for funeral expense assistance
56 Who may apply for funeral expense assistance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52
57 Form of application. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52
58 Time limit . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53
Part 11 Withdrawal, amendment or lapse of applications
59 Withdrawal of application . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53
60 Amendment of application . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53
61 Lapse of application if no contact . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53
Part 12 Considering applications for assistance
Division 1 Considering applications generally
62 Choosing government assessor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54
63 General principles . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55
64 Further information, document or consent . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55
65 Obtaining information about act of violence . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 56
66 Obtaining copies of witness statements, or information about
particular conduct, in relation to act of violence . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 58
67 Obtaining information about prosecution . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 60
68 Confirming release or discharge date . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 60
69 Obtaining primary victim's criminal history from police
commissioner ................................... 61
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Victims of Crime Assistance Bill 2009
Contents
Division 2 Additional provisions about considering applications for
victim assistance
70 Deciding applications for series of related crimes . . . . . . . . . . . . 63
71 Notifying other victims etc. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 64
72 Notified victims failing to make application . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 65
73 Examinations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 66
74 Obtaining medical information from designated person . . . . . . . . 67
75 Obtaining information about child's injuries or needs . . . . . . . . . . 68
76 Obtaining information about person with impaired capacity. . . . . 68
77 Obtaining information about relevant payments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 69
Division 3 Restrictions on granting assistance
78 Grant only if applicant is eligible . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 72
79 No grant if applicant conspired to commit act of violence . . . . . . 72
80 No grant to particular persons if primary victim's activities
caused act of violence . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 72
81 No grant if act of violence not reported . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 73
82 No grant if reasonable assistance not given. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 74
Division 4 Other general provisions about considering applications
83 Dealing with application if applicant has earlier application . . . . . 76
84 Deferring decision if applicant is detained . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 77
Division 5 Working out amount of assistance
85 Deciding amount of assistance generally. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 77
86 Reduction if relevant payment received . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 79
87 Deferring decision if victim's conduct may be relevant . . . . . . . . . 80
Part 13 Granting or refusing assistance
Division 1 Deciding application
88 Inviting submissions from applicant . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 81
89 Deciding application . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 82
90 Notice of decision to grant assistance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 83
91 Notice of decision to refuse assistance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 84
Division 2 Paying assistance
92 Application of div 2 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 84
93 Paying assistance generally . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 84
94 Paying assistance to someone else . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 85
95 Paying assistance if applicant liable to pay amount to State . . . . 86
96 Unpaid assistance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 87
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Part 14 Interim assistance
97 Application of pt 14. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 87
98 Deciding application for interim assistance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 88
99 Steps after application for interim assistance decided . . . . . . . . . 88
100 Effect of decision on general application . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 89
Part 15 Amendment of grants
101 Application for amendment. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 89
102 Person who is to decide application . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 90
103 Considering application . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 91
104 Decision on application . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 91
105 Steps after application decided . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 92
106 Amendment of assistance if uncounted relevant payment
received ...................................... 93
Part 16 Recovering assistance from offender
107 Purpose of pt 16 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 94
108 References to assistance granted for an act of violence . . . . . . . 95
109 Recovery available only for assistance that is paid . . . . . . . . . . . 95
110 Recovery available only after appeal rights exhausted . . . . . . . . 95
111 Recovery limited to category of act of violence for which
assistance granted . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 95
112 Recovery from multiple offenders. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 96
113 Using information obtained for application . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 97
114 Obtaining information from court . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 97
115 Notice of intended recovery . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 98
116 Disputing claim that conviction relates to act of violence . . . . . . . 99
117 Offender's liability to pay generally . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 100
118 Reduction in offender's liability to pay if assistance refunded . . . 102
119 Reduction in offender's liability to pay if amount received under
Corrective Services Act 2006 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 103
120 Registration of unpaid amount under State Penalties
Enforcement Act 1999 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 104
Part 17 Effect of conviction for fraud offence relating to application
121 Application of pt 17. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 106
122 Lapse of application if not decided . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 106
123 Refund of paid assistance and unpaid assistance stops being
payable .......................................... 106
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Victims of Crime Assistance Bill 2009
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Part 18 Internal and external review of decision
124 Internal review of decision . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 107
125 External review of reviewed decision . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 108
126 Effect of reducing amount of assistance. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 108
Part 19 Administration
127 Scheme manager . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 109
128 Government assessors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 110
129 Delegation by scheme manager. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 110
130 Disclosure of interests . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 111
Part 20 Miscellaneous
131 Guidelines . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 112
132 Table of costs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 112
133 Giving information to corresponding scheme managers . . . . . . . 113
134 Arrangement with corresponding scheme managers about
giving and receiving information. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 115
135 Other information-sharing arrangements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 115
136 Obtaining information about other victims . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 116
137 Inadmissibility of particular matters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 117
Chapter 4 Victim services coordinator
138 Appointment of victim services coordinator . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 118
139 Functions of victim services coordinator . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 118
Chapter 5 Miscellaneous
140 Confidentiality. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 120
141 False or misleading information . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 120
142 Proceedings for offences . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 121
143 Protection from civil liability . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 121
144 Review of Act . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 121
145 Approved forms . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 121
146 Regulation-making power. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 122
147 Temporary regulation-making power . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 122
148 Transitional regulation-making power . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 122
Chapter 6 Repeal and transitional provisions
Part 1 Repeal provision
149 Repeal . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 123
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Part 2 Transitional provisions
Division 1 Preliminary
150 Definitions for pt 2. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 123
151 References to person making an application . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 127
152 Acts Interpretation Act 1954, s 20 not limited. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 127
153 Application of Act to acts done before commencement . . . . . . . . 127
Division 2 Applications that could have been made to a court
154 Application of div 2 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 128
155 Person may apply for order under repealed legislation in
particular circumstances . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 129
156 Person may apply for assistance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 130
157 Deciding application for assistance etc. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 131
158 Recovery of assistance granted . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 131
Division 3 Applications that could have been made to the State
Subdivision 1 Applications by persons other than dependants or family
members
159 Application of sdiv 1 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 132
160 Person may apply for assistance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 133
161 Deciding application for assistance etc. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 134
162 Recovery of assistance granted . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 134
Subdivision 2 Applications by dependants or family members
163 Application of sdiv 2 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 135
164 Person may apply for assistance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 135
165 Deciding application for assistance etc. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 136
166 Recovery of assistance granted . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 136
Division 4 Existing applications
167 Existing application for compensation order of court . . . . . . . . . . 137
168 Existing application for payment of court ordered compensation
by the State . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 138
169 Existing application for payment of another amount by the State. 139
Division 5 Special provisions if series of related offences
170 Application of div 5 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 141
171 Personal offences in the series constitute single act of violence . 143
172 Effect of decision under repealed legislation for personal
offences in the series . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 143
173 Effect of application under repealed legislation for personal
offences in the series . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 144
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174 Deciding component of assistance after reduction under s 172
or 173 .......................................... 145
Division 6 Special provisions if mixed applications
175 Mixed applications by dependants . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 146
176 Mixed applications by family members . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 147
Division 7 Extensions of time
Subdivision 1 Persons for whom period for applying under repealed Act
has expired
177 Existing applications for extension under repealed Act . . . . . . . . 149
178 Particular persons may apply for assistance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 150
179 Particular persons may apply for approval to apply for
assistance ................................... 151
Subdivision 2 Persons for whom period for applying under repealed
Criminal Code chapter has expired
180 Particular persons may apply for approval to apply for
assistance ................................... 154
Division 8 Compensation orders
181 Application of div 8 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 155
182 Compensation order continues . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 156
183 Limitations about applications to State for payment of amount
payable under compensation order . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 157
Division 9 Provisions about amounts paid by State under repealed
legislation
Subdivision 1 Continuing State's rights
184 State's rights in relation to amounts paid continue . . . . . . . . . . . . 158
Subdivision 2 Recovering amount from offender
185 Purpose and application of sdiv 2 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 159
186 Definition for sdiv 2 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 160
187 No recovery if relevant agreement in force. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 160
188 Recovery limited if amount received as subrogated victim. . . . . . 160
189 Notice of intended recovery . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 161
190 Disputing amount State may recover . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 163
191 Offender's liability to pay. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 163
192 Dealing with refundable amount if assistance granted to
offender ..................................... 165
193 Registration of unpaid amount under State Penalties
Enforcement Act 1999 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 167
194 Obtaining information from court . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 169
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Division 10 Other transitional provision
195 References to repealed Act . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 169
Chapter 7 Amendment of Acts
Part 1 Amendment of Corrective Services Act 2006
196 Act amended . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 170
197 Amendment of s 319J (Definitions) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 170
198 Amendment of s 319U (Identification of potential claimants) . . . . 170
199 Amendment of s 319Z (What is an entity claim). . . . . . . . . . . . . . 171
200 Amendment of s 319ZD (Payment of eligible entity claims from
victim trust fund) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 172
201 Amendment of sch 4 (Dictionary) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 172
Part 2 Amendment of Criminal Code
202 Act amended . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 173
203 Amendment of s 695A (Power to protect victim of violence by
prohibiting publication of information about proceedings) . . . . . . 173
Part 3 Amendment of Evidence Act 1977
204 Act amended . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 174
205 Amendment of s 131A (Court may order interpreter to be
provided) ...................................... 174
206 Amendment of s 132C (Fact finding on sentencing) . . . . . . . . . . 174
Part 4 Amendment of Juvenile Justice Act 1992
207 Act amended . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 174
208 Amendment of s 150 (Sentencing principles). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 174
209 Replacement of pt 7, div 15 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 175
Division 15 Application of Acts applying to victims
256 Victims of Crime Assistance Act 2009 etc.. . . . . . . . . 175
Part 5 Amendment of Penalties and Sentences Act 1992
210 Act amended . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 175
211 Amendment of s 9 (Sentencing guidelines) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 175
212 Amendment of s 172A (Distribution of reports) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 176
213 Amendment of s 172C (Review hearing) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 176
Part 6 Amendment of Personal Injuries Proceedings Act 2002
214 Act amended . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 176
215 Amendment of s 6 (Application of Act) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 176
Part 7 Amendment of State Penalties Enforcement Act 1999
216 Act amended . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 177
217 Amendment of s 112 (Order of satisfaction of other amounts). . . 177
Page 9
Victims of Crime Assistance Bill 2009
Contents
Schedule 1 Reviewable decisions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 178
Schedule 2 Amounts and categories for special assistance . . . . . . . . . . 180
1 Amount of special assistance payable . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 180
2 Minimum and maximum amounts. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 182
3 Categories of acts of violence . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 183
4 Order of categories of act of violence. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 185
Schedule 3 Dictionary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 186
Page 10
2009
A Bill
for
An Act to declare and implement principles of justice for
victims of crime, to provide a scheme to give financial
assistance to certain victims, and to amend the Acts mentioned
in chapter 7 for particular purposes
Victims of Crime Assistance Bill 2009
Chapter 1 Preliminary
[s 1]
The Parliament of Queensland enacts-- 1
Chapter 1 Preliminary 2
1 Short title 3
This Act may be cited as the Victims of Crime Assistance Act 4
2009. 5
2 Commencement 6
This Act, other than the following provisions, commences on 7
a day to be fixed by proclamation-- 8
(a) sections 127, 128, 131 and 138; 9
(b) schedule 3, definitions appropriately qualified, 10
government assessor, scheme manager, the scheme and 11
victims assistance unit. 12
3 Purposes of Act 13
(1) The purposes of this Act are-- 14
(a) to declare fundamental principles of justice to underlie 15
the treatment of victims by certain entities dealing with 16
them; and 17
(b) to provide a mechanism for implementing the principles 18
and processes for making complaints about conduct 19
inconsistent with the principles; and 20
(c) to provide a scheme to give financial assistance to 21
certain victims of acts of violence. 22
(2) The objectives of the scheme mentioned in subsection (1)(c) 23
are-- 24
(a) to help victims of acts of violence to recover from the 25
acts by giving them financial assistance; and 26
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Victims of Crime Assistance Bill 2009
Chapter 2 Fundamental principles of justice for victims
Part 1 Preliminary
[s 4]
(b) for primary victims, to give the victims amounts 1
representing a symbolic expression by the State of the 2
community's recognition of the injuries suffered by 3
them; and 4
(c) for related victims who have suffered distress, to give 5
the victims amounts representing a symbolic expression 6
by the State of the community's recognition of the 7
distress suffered by them; and 8
(d) to add to other services provided by or for government 9
to victims of acts of violence. 10
(3) However, grants of financial assistance (including special 11
assistance and assistance as mentioned in section 49(1)(f)) to 12
victims of acts of violence under the scheme are not intended 13
to reflect the level of compensation to which victims of acts of 14
violence may be entitled at common law or otherwise. 15
4 Definitions 16
The dictionary in schedule 3 defines particular words used in 17
this Act. 18
Chapter 2 Fundamental principles of 19
justice for victims 20
Part 1 Preliminary 21
5 Meaning of victim 22
(1) A victim is a person who has suffered harm-- 23
(a) because a crime is committed against the person; or 24
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Victims of Crime Assistance Bill 2009
Chapter 2 Fundamental principles of justice for victims
Part 1 Preliminary
[s 6]
(b) because the person is a family member or dependant of a 1
person who has died or suffered harm because a crime is 2
committed against that person; or 3
(c) as a direct result of intervening to help a person who has 4
died or suffered harm because a crime is committed 5
against that person. 6
(2) A person who commits a crime against a person as mentioned 7
in subsection (1)(a) is not a victim of the crime under 8
subsection (1)(b) or (c). 9
6 Purposes of declaring principles 10
The purposes of declaring the principles are to-- 11
(a) advance the interests of victims by stating some 12
fundamental principles of justice that prescribed persons 13
are to observe in dealing with them; and 14
(b) inform victims of the principles they can expect will 15
underlie the treatment of them by prescribed persons. 16
7 Principles do not give legal rights or affect legal rights or 17
obligations 18
(1) The principles-- 19
(a) are not enforceable by criminal or civil redress; and 20
(b) do not affect the validity, or give grounds for review, of 21
anything done or not done, or a decision made or not 22
made, in contravention of them; and 23
(c) do not affect the operation of any other law, including, 24
for example-- 25
(i) the Criminal Practice Rules 1999 and the rules of 26
evidence in criminal proceedings; and 27
(ii) the Criminal Code, chapter 62, chapter division 3; 28
and 29
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Victims of Crime Assistance Bill 2009
Chapter 2 Fundamental principles of justice for victims
Part 2 Declaration of fundamental principles
[s 8]
Editor's note-- 1
Criminal Code, chapter 62, chapter division 3 (Disclosure 2
by the prosecution) 3
(d) do not affect confidentiality obligations applying to a 4
prescribed person. 5
(2) Subsection (1) does not prevent disciplinary action being 6
taken against a prescribed person who contravenes processes 7
for implementing the principles that have been adopted by the 8
government entity responsible for the prescribed person's 9
conduct. 10
Note-- 11
Part 3 also provides for the implementation of the principles, including 12
how victims may complain about prescribed persons who they believe 13
have engaged in conduct that is inconsistent with the principles. 14
(3) In this section-- 15
confidentiality obligation means an obligation to maintain 16
confidentiality about particular information under an Act, 17
oath, or rule of law or practice. 18
criminal or civil redress means a proceeding for the 19
enforcement of a right or obligation, whether the right or 20
obligation is substantive or procedural, direct or indirect. 21
Part 2 Declaration of fundamental 22
principles 23
8 Fair and dignified treatment 24
(1) A prescribed person in dealing with a victim is to-- 25
(a) treat the victim with courtesy, compassion, respect and 26
dignity; and 27
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Victims of Crime Assistance Bill 2009
Chapter 2 Fundamental principles of justice for victims
Part 2 Declaration of fundamental principles
[s 9]
(b) take into account, and be responsive to, the particular 1
needs of the victim, including, for example, needs 2
relating to the victim's-- 3
(i) age; or 4
(ii) sex or gender identity; or 5
(iii) race or indigenous background; or 6
(iv) cultural or linguistic diversity; or 7
(v) sexuality; or 8
(vi) impairment; or 9
(vii) religious belief. 10
(2) In this section-- 11
victim includes a person who has suffered harm as a direct 12
result of witnessing a crime committed against someone else. 13
9 Privacy of victim 14
(1) A victim's personal information, including the victim's 15
address and telephone number, held by a government entity is 16
not to be disclosed to a person other than as authorised under 17
an Act or law. 18
(2) In this section-- 19
victim includes a person who has suffered harm as a direct 20
result of witnessing a crime committed against someone else. 21
10 Information about services 22
(1) A government entity is to give a victim timely information 23
about the following-- 24
(a) available welfare, health, counselling, medical and legal 25
help; 26
(b) financial assistance, compensation and restitution 27
entitlements; 28
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Chapter 2 Fundamental principles of justice for victims
Part 2 Declaration of fundamental principles
[s 11]
(c) any other relevant support services available. 1
(2) Subsection (1) applies only-- 2
(a) to the extent giving the information is relevant to the 3
entity's functions; or 4
(b) if it is otherwise reasonable and practicable for the 5
entity to give the information. 6
11 Information about investigation of offender 7
(1) So far as is reasonably practicable, an investigatory agency is 8
to, if asked by a victim, give the victim the following 9
information about the crime committed against the victim-- 10
(a) the progress of investigations being conducted about the 11
crime, unless disclosure is likely to jeopardise the 12
investigations; 13
(b) if the disclosure of the progress of investigations being 14
conducted about the crime is likely to jeopardise the 15
investigations--that no information can be given at that 16
time because of the ongoing nature of the investigations; 17
(c) the availability of diversionary programs in relation to 18
the crime; 19
(d) the charge laid for the crime and details of the place and 20
date of hearing of the proceeding for the charge; 21
(e) the name of the person charged; 22
(f) the reasons for the investigatory agency's decision not 23
to continue with the charge or to amend the charge or to 24
accept a plea to a lesser charge; 25
(g) the outcome of an application for bail by the charged 26
person and, if the charged person is released on bail or 27
otherwise before the proceeding on the charge is 28
finished--the arrangements made for the release, 29
including any condition and any application for 30
variation of the condition that may affect the victim's 31
safety or welfare; 32
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Victims of Crime Assistance Bill 2009
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Part 2 Declaration of fundamental principles
[s 12]
(h) the outcome of a proceeding relating to the crime, 1
including an appeal. 2
(2) So far as is reasonably practicable, an investigatory agency is 3
to give a victim timely notice of the issue of a warrant for the 4
arrest of the person accused of committing the crime against 5
the victim. 6
12 Information about prosecution of offender 7
So far as is reasonably practicable, a prosecuting agency is to, 8
if asked by a victim, give the victim the following information 9
about the crime committed against the victim-- 10
(a) details about relevant court processes, and when the 11
victim may attend a relevant court proceeding, subject to 12
any court order; 13
(b) details of the availability of diversionary programs in 14
relation to the crime; 15
(c) notice of a decision to substantially change a charge, or 16
not to continue with a charge, or accept a plea of guilty 17
to a lesser charge; 18
(d) notice of the outcome of a proceeding relating to the 19
crime, including any sentence imposed and the outcome 20
of any appeal. 21
13 Victim to be advised on role as witness 22
A victim who is a witness for the prosecution in the trial for 23
the crime committed against the victim is to be informed by a 24
prosecuting agency about the trial process and the victim's 25
role as a witness for the prosecution. 26
14 Contact between victim and accused to be minimised 27
(1) So far as is reasonably practicable, investigatory agencies, 28
prosecuting agencies and court staff are to, during a court 29
proceeding and within a court building-- 30
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Victims of Crime Assistance Bill 2009
Chapter 2 Fundamental principles of justice for victims
Part 2 Declaration of fundamental principles
[s 15]
(a) minimise a victim's exposure to unnecessary contact 1
with the person accused of committing a crime against 2
the victim, defence witnesses and family members and 3
supporters of the accused person; and 4
(b) protect a victim from violence or intimidation by the 5
accused person, defence witnesses and family members 6
and supporters of the accused person. 7
(2) Subsection (1) applies to an investigatory agency or 8
prosecuting agency only to the extent an officer, member or 9
employee of the agency is present during the court proceeding 10
or in the court building. 11
15 Giving details of impact of crime on victim during 12
sentencing 13
(1) A victim of a prescribed offence is to be permitted to give the 14
prosecutor for the offence details of the harm caused to the 15
victim by the offence, for the purpose of the prosecutor 16
informing the relevant sentencing court. 17
Note-- 18
If the offender's mental condition relating to the offence is referred to 19
the Mental Health Court under the Mental Health Act 2000, see section 20
284 of that Act for the information a victim of the offence may give that 21
court to help it make a decision on the reference. 22
(2) The prosecutor may continue with the sentencing proceeding 23
without having received details of the harm if it is reasonable 24
to do so in the circumstances, having regard to-- 25
(a) the interests of justice; or 26
(b) whether permitting the details of harm to be given 27
would unreasonably delay the sentencing of the 28
offender; or 29
(c) anything else that may adversely affect the 30
reasonableness, or the practicality, of permitting details 31
of the harm to be given. 32
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Victims of Crime Assistance Bill 2009
Chapter 2 Fundamental principles of justice for victims
Part 2 Declaration of fundamental principles
[s 15]
(3) If details of the harm are given to the prosecutor, the 1
prosecutor is to-- 2
(a) decide what (if any) details are appropriate to be given 3
to the sentencing court; and 4
(b) give the appropriate details to the sentencing court, 5
whether or not in the form of a victim impact statement 6
given under subsection (5). 7
Note-- 8
In sentencing the offender, the sentencing court must have regard to the 9
harm done to, or impact of the offence on, the victim under-- 10
(a) the Penalties and Sentences Act 1992, section 9(2)(c)(i); or 11
(b) if the offender is a child--the Juvenile Justice Act 1992, section 12
150(1)(h). 13
(4) In deciding what details are not appropriate, the prosecutor 14
may have regard to the victim's wishes. 15
(5) Details of the harm may be given to the prosecutor in the form 16
of a victim impact statement prepared by-- 17
(a) the victim; or 18
(b) someone else if the victim can not give the statement 19
because of the victim's age or impaired capacity. 20
(6) The fact that details of the harm caused to a victim by the 21
offence are absent at the sentencing does not of itself give rise 22
to an inference that the offence caused little or no harm to the 23
victim. 24
(7) To remove any doubt, it is declared that it is not mandatory for 25
a victim to give the prosecutor details of the harm caused to 26
the victim by the offence. 27
(8) The sentencing court is to decide if, and how, details of the 28
harm are to be given to the court in accordance with the rules 29
of evidence and the practices and procedures applying to the 30
court. 31
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Victims of Crime Assistance Bill 2009
Chapter 2 Fundamental principles of justice for victims
Part 2 Declaration of fundamental principles
[s 16]
Examples of how details of harm may be given to sentencing court-- 1
· production of victim impact statement to the sentencing court 2
· victim reading details of harm aloud before the sentencing court 3
(9) In this section-- 4
victim impact statement means a written statement that-- 5
(a) is signed and dated; and 6
(b) states the particulars of the harm caused to a victim by 7
an offence; and 8
(c) may have attached to it-- 9
(i) documents supporting the particulars, including, 10
for example, medical reports; or 11
(ii) photographs, drawings or other images. 12
16 Information about convicted offender 13
(1) This section applies if a person who commits a prescribed 14
offence against a victim-- 15
(a) is convicted of the offence; and 16
(b) sentenced to imprisonment or detention. 17
(2) The relevant agency is to give the victim notice of the 18
following if the victim asks for it-- 19
(a) the day the convicted person's period of imprisonment 20
or detention started and the length of the period; 21
(b) any escape from custody by the convicted person while 22
undergoing the sentence; 23
(c) whether the convicted person is unlawfully at large 24
within the meaning of the Corrective Services Act 2006; 25
(d) any further cumulative periods of imprisonment or 26
detention imposed on the convicted person while in 27
custody for the offence; 28
(e) the day on which the convicted person is-- 29
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Victims of Crime Assistance Bill 2009
Chapter 2 Fundamental principles of justice for victims
Part 2 Declaration of fundamental principles
[s 16]
(i) eligible for, or due for, release on parole; or 1
(ii) for a child, due for release under a supervised 2
release order under the Juvenile Justice Act 1992; 3
or 4
(iii) due for discharge; 5
(f) the transfer of the convicted person interstate or 6
overseas under a scheme for the transfer of persons 7
imprisoned or detained under sentence; 8
(g) if the convicted person is a child-- 9
(i) the transfer of the convicted person from a 10
detention centre to a corrective services facility; or 11
(ii) the granting to the convicted person of leave of 12
absence under the Juvenile Justice Act 1992, 13
section 269, and the period for which the leave is 14
granted. 15
Note-- 16
A victim of a prescribed offence may also be able to obtain particular 17
information about the offence, or the person who committed or 18
allegedly committed the offence, under-- 19
(a) the Corrective Services Act 2006, chapter 6, part 13, division 1; or 20
(b) the Mental Health Act 2000, chapter 7A, part 1, division 2 or part 2, 21
division 2. 22
(3) In this section-- 23
corrective services facility see the Corrective Services Act 24
2006, schedule 4. 25
detention centre see the Juvenile Justice Act 1992, schedule 4. 26
relevant agency means-- 27
(a) the department in which the Corrective Services Act 28
2006 is administered; or 29
(b) for an offender who is a child--the department in which 30
the Juvenile Justice Act 1992 is administered. 31
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Victims of Crime Assistance Bill 2009
Chapter 2 Fundamental principles of justice for victims
Part 3 Implementing principles
[s 17]
Part 3 Implementing principles 1
17 Guidelines and processes for compliance with principles 2
(1) A government entity must prepare and adopt appropriate 3
guidelines and processes for implementing the principles. 4
(2) Without limiting subsection (1), the guidelines and processes 5
must be directed at helping officers, members and employees 6
of the entity for whose conduct the government entity is 7
responsible to conduct themselves in a way that is consistent 8
with the principles. 9
18 Conduct to be consistent with principles 10
(1) This section applies-- 11
(a) if a prescribed person is dealing with a person who the 12
prescribed person is aware, or ought reasonably to be 13
aware, is a victim; and 14
(b) to the extent the principles apply to the prescribed 15
person in dealing with the victim. 16
(2) The prescribed person must not, in dealing with the victim, 17
engage in conduct that is inconsistent with the principles. 18
19 Victim may make complaint 19
(1) This section applies if a victim believes a prescribed person 20
has, in relation to the victim, engaged in conduct that is 21
inconsistent with the principles. 22
(2) The victim may make a complaint about the conduct to-- 23
(a) if the prescribed person is a government entity--the 24
government entity; or 25
(b) if the prescribed person is an officer, member or 26
employee of a government entity--either-- 27
(i) the government entity; or 28
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Victims of Crime Assistance Bill 2009
Chapter 2 Fundamental principles of justice for victims
Part 3 Implementing principles
[s 20]
(ii) the victim services coordinator. 1
(3) If a complaint is made to the victim services coordinator 2
under subsection (2)(b)(ii), the coordinator must-- 3
(a) if, under the process for resolving the complaint adopted 4
by the government entity concerned, the victim services 5
coordinator is to facilitate the resolution of the 6
complaint--inform the government entity about the 7
complaint; or 8
(b) otherwise--refer the complaint to the government entity 9
concerned. 10
(4) If there is an arrangement between the victim services 11
coordinator and the government entity for referring 12
complaints under subsection (3)(b), the victim services 13
coordinator must comply with the arrangement when referring 14
a complaint under the subsection. 15
Note-- 16
See section 139 for other functions of the victim services coordinator. 17
(5) For this section, a government entity is concerned about a 18
complaint if the complaint is about the conduct of an officer, 19
member or employee of the entity. 20
20 Dealing with complaint 21
(1) This section applies if-- 22
(a) a victim makes a complaint under section 19(2)(a) or 23
(b)(i) to a government entity; or 24
(b) a victim makes a complaint under section 19(2)(b)(ii) to 25
the victim services coordinator and the coordinator 26
refers the complaint to a government entity under 27
section 19(3)(b). 28
(2) The government entity must-- 29
(a) give the victim information about the process that will 30
apply for resolving the complaint; and 31
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Victims of Crime Assistance Bill 2009
Chapter 3 Victims financial assistance scheme
Part 1 General
[s 21]
(b) take all reasonable steps to resolve the complaint as 1
soon as is reasonably practicable. 2
(3) If the complaint is about the government entity and, under the 3
government entity's process for resolving the complaint, the 4
government entity must refer the complaint to another entity, 5
the government entity complies with subsection (2)(b) if-- 6
(a) the government entity refers the complaint to the other 7
entity as soon as is reasonably practicable; and 8
(b) gives the other entity timely and reasonable assistance to 9
resolve the complaint. 10
Example of another entity-- 11
the ombudsman 12
(4) If the complaint is about an officer, member or employee of 13
the government entity and, under the government entity's 14
process for resolving the complaint, the victim services 15
coordinator is to facilitate the resolution of the complaint, the 16
entity must refer the complaint to the coordinator. 17
(5) If the complaint was referred to the government entity by the 18
victim services coordinator under section 19(3)(b), the entity 19
must, as soon as practicable after the complaint is resolved, 20
inform the coordinator about how the complaint was resolved. 21
Chapter 3 Victims financial assistance 22
scheme 23
Part 1 General 24
21 Scheme for financial assistance 25
(1) This chapter establishes a scheme for the payment of financial 26
assistance-- 27
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Victims of Crime Assistance Bill 2009
Chapter 3 Victims financial assistance scheme
Part 1 General
[s 22]
(a) to a victim of an act of violence; or 1
(b) to a person who incurs, or is reasonably likely to incur, 2
funeral expenses for the death of a primary victim of an 3
act of violence. 4
(2) This chapter does not entitle anyone to the payment of 5
financial assistance in relation to an act of violence if-- 6
(a) the person committed or conspired to commit the act; or 7
(b) for a person claiming assistance as a primary victim of 8
the act--the person's involvement in a criminal activity 9
is the only reason, or the main reason, the act was 10
committed against the person; or 11
(c) for a person claiming assistance for the death of a 12
primary victim of the act--the primary victim's 13
involvement in a criminal activity is the only reason, or 14
the main reason, the act was committed against the 15
primary victim, and the person was or should have been 16
aware of the involvement. 17
(3) Also, this chapter does not entitle anyone to the payment of 18
financial assistance in relation to an act of violence if, in the 19
absence of a reasonable excuse-- 20
(a) the act has not been reported to a person as mentioned in 21
section 81(1)(a); or 22
(b) the person has not given reasonable assistance in the 23
arrest or prosecution of the person who allegedly 24
committed the act. 25
(4) Further, this chapter does not entitle anyone to the payment of 26
financial assistance in relation to an act of violence to the 27
extent the person has received, or will receive, payment of an 28
amount in relation to the act of violence from another source. 29
22 Other rights etc. not affected 30
The granting of financial assistance under the scheme to a 31
person does not limit a right, entitlement or remedy the person 32
has under common law or otherwise. 33
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Victims of Crime Assistance Bill 2009
Chapter 3 Victims financial assistance scheme
Part 2 Basic concepts
[s 23]
23 Assistance for victim available only in 1 capacity 1
(1) This section applies if a person is a victim of an act of 2
violence in 2 or more of the following capacities-- 3
(a) primary victim; 4
(b) parent secondary victim; 5
(c) witness secondary victim; 6
(d) related victim. 7
(2) The person is eligible for victim assistance in relation to the 8
act of violence in only 1 of the capacities. 9
(3) This section does not prevent a witness secondary victim or 10
related victim of an act of violence also being granted 11
assistance for funeral expenses for the death of a primary 12
victim of the act. 13
24 Effect of death on eligibility for assistance 14
(1) Despite any other Act or law, if a person entitled to assistance 15
dies, the person's entitlement to assistance does not survive 16
for the benefit of the person's estate. 17
(2) If a person applies for assistance but dies before the 18
application is decided, the application lapses. 19
(3) If a person is granted assistance but dies before the assistance 20
is paid to the person, the assistance is taken to never have been 21
granted and the person's application lapses. 22
Part 2 Basic concepts 23
25 Meaning of act of violence 24
(1) An act of violence is a crime or a series of related crimes, 25
whether committed by 1 or more persons, that-- 26
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Victims of Crime Assistance Bill 2009
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Part 2 Basic concepts
[s 25]
(a) are committed in Queensland; and 1
(b) directly result in the death of, or injury to, 1 or more 2
persons, irrespective of where the death or injury 3
happened. 4
Note-- 5
In general terms, it is intended by this section that assistance may be 6
granted to a person in relation to an act of violence even though the 7
person who committed the act has not been, or can not be, found guilty 8
of the relevant prescribed offence because of a justification, excuse or 9
defence. 10
On the other hand, it is not intended by this section that assistance be 11
payable for an act done or omission made by a person, for example, a 12
police officer, if the act or omission is lawfully done or made in the 13
course of the person performing duties under an Act. 14
See, however, sections 26(6), 50(2), 79 and 80. 15
(2) A crime is an act or omission constituting a prescribed 16
offence-- 17
(a) disregarding any justification, excuse or defence that a 18
person may have for doing the act or making the 19
omission; and 20
(b) whether or not the person who did the act or made the 21
omission has been identified, arrested, prosecuted or 22
convicted in relation to the act or omission. 23
(3) However, a reference to a justification, excuse or defence in 24
subsection (2)(a) does not include-- 25
(a) a matter mentioned in the Criminal Code, section 26
31(1)(a) or (b); or 27
(b) an authorisation to do an act or make an omission that is 28
provided for under an Act. 29
(4) A series of related crimes is 2 or more crimes that are related 30
because-- 31
(a) they are committed against the same person and-- 32
(i) are committed at about the same time; or 33
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Victims of Crime Assistance Bill 2009
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[s 26]
(ii) are committed over a period by the same person or 1
group of persons; or 2
(iii) share another common factor; or 3
(b) they all contribute to the death of or injury to a person; 4
or 5
(c) they, having regard to the circumstances of the crimes, 6
are related in some other way. 7
(5) However, a crime (later crime) is not related to a previous 8
crime (earlier crime) if the later crime is committed after 9
assistance is granted in relation to the earlier crime. 10
(6) To remove any doubt, it is declared that, for this chapter-- 11
(a) a series of related crimes is taken to be a single act of 12
violence; and 13
(b) assistance may be granted only for the single act of 14
violence. 15
(7) In this chapter, a reference to an act of violence in relation to 16
an application for assistance includes a reference to an alleged 17
act of violence. 18
(8) In this section-- 19
prescribed offence means-- 20
(a) an offence committed against the person of someone; or 21
(b) an offence prescribed under a temporary regulation for 22
this definition; or 23
(c) an offence of attempting to commit, or conspiring to 24
commit, an offence mentioned in paragraph (a) or (b). 25
26 Who is a primary, secondary, parent secondary, witness 26
secondary or related victim 27
(1) A primary victim, of an act of violence, is a person who dies 28
or is injured as a direct result of the act being committed 29
against the person. 30
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[s 27]
(2) A secondary victim, of an act of violence, is a person who is a 1
parent secondary victim or witness secondary victim of the 2
act. 3
(3) A parent secondary victim, of an act of violence, is a person 4
who-- 5
(a) is a parent of a child who is injured as a direct result of 6
the act being committed against the child; and 7
(b) is injured as a direct result of becoming aware of the act. 8
(4) A witness secondary victim, of an act of violence, is a person 9
who is injured as a direct result of witnessing the act. 10
(5) A related victim, of an act of violence, is a person who is a 11
close family member, or a dependant, of a primary victim of 12
the act who has died as a direct result of the act. 13
(6) However, a person is not a victim of an act of violence, of a 14
kind mentioned in subsections (1) to (5), if the person 15
committed the act. 16
(7) In this section-- 17
close family member, of a primary victim of an act of 18
violence who has died as a direct result of the act, means a 19
family member of the primary victim who had a genuine 20
personal relationship with the primary victim when the 21
primary victim died. 22
27 Meaning of injury 23
(1) In this chapter, injury means-- 24
(a) bodily injury; or 25
(b) mental illness or disorder; or 26
(c) intellectual impairment; or 27
(d) pregnancy; or 28
(e) disease; or 29
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(f) for a sexual offence, the totality of the following adverse 1
impacts of the sexual offence suffered by a person-- 2
(i) sense of violation; 3
(ii) reduced self worth or perception; 4
(iii) lost or reduced physical immunity; 5
(iv) lost or reduced physical capacity (including the 6
capacity to have children), whether temporary or 7
permanent; 8
(v) increased fear or increased feelings of insecurity; 9
(vi) adverse effect of others reacting adversely to the 10
person; 11
(vii) adverse impact on lawful sexual relations; 12
(viii) adverse impact on feelings; or 13
(g) a combination of matters mentioned in paragraphs (a) to 14
(f). 15
(2) For this chapter, injury also includes an aggravation of an 16
injury mentioned in subsection (1)(a) to (g), if the aggravation 17
arises as a direct result of an act of violence. 18
(3) To remove any doubt, it is declared that, for this chapter, an 19
aggravation mentioned in subsection (2) is an injury only to 20
the extent of the effects of the aggravation. 21
28 When exceptional circumstances exist 22
For this chapter, exceptional circumstances exist for a victim 23
of an act of violence if, because of the victim's circumstances 24
or the nature of the act, the act has had an unusual, special or 25
out of the ordinary effect on the victim. 26
Examples of when exceptional circumstances may exist-- 27
1 An elderly person who lives alone suffers injury as a direct result of 28
an act of violence committed against the person in the person's 29
home. Because of the act, the person becomes seriously concerned 30
about the person's security. 31
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2 A person who lives in a remote area suffers injury as a direct result 1
of an act of violence committed against the person by a person who 2
lives in the same area. Because of the remoteness of the area, the 3
person becomes seriously concerned about another act of violence 4
being committed against the person by the same person. 5
29 When person incurs expenses 6
For this chapter, a person incurs expenses if-- 7
(a) the person pays the expenses; or 8
(b) someone else pays the expenses on the person's behalf; 9
or 10
(c) the person receives an invoice for the payment of the 11
expenses. 12
Note-- 13
Part 13, division 2 provides for the payment of assistance to a person 14
who is granted assistance, including providing for payments to someone 15
else who has paid expenses on the person's behalf or who has given the 16
person an invoice for the payment of expenses. 17
30 References to government assessor 18
In this chapter, a reference to the government assessor in 19
relation to an application for assistance is a reference to the 20
government assessor who, for the time being, is dealing with 21
the application. 22
Note-- 23
See sections 62, 127(6) and (7) and 130(5). 24
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Part 3 Relationship with workers' compensation
[s 31]
Part 3 Relationship with workers' 1
compensation 2
31 Application of pt 3 3
This part applies if, for an act of violence, a person is-- 4
(a) a primary victim, witness secondary victim or related 5
victim; and 6
(b) a person who is entitled to compensation under the 7
Workers' Compensation Act. 8
32 Relationship generally 9
(1) This section states the assistance for which the person is 10
eligible if the person is paid compensation under the Workers' 11
Compensation Act. 12
(2) If the person is a primary victim, the person is eligible for the 13
following assistance-- 14
(a) assistance under section 38(1) for-- 15
(i) the components mentioned in section 39(f) and (g); 16
and 17
(ii) special assistance as mentioned in subsection (6); 18
(b) additional assistance under section 38(2). 19
(3) If the person is a witness secondary victim of a more serious 20
act of violence, the person is eligible for the following 21
assistance-- 22
(a) assistance under section 44(1)(a) for the component 23
mentioned in section 45(1)(f); 24
(b) additional assistance under section 44(2); 25
(c) funeral expense assistance. 26
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(4) If the person is a witness secondary victim of a less serious act 1
of violence, the person is eligible for funeral expense 2
assistance. 3
(5) If the person is a related victim of an act of violence, the 4
person is eligible for the following assistance-- 5
(a) assistance under section 48(2) for-- 6
(i) the components mentioned in section 49(1)(a), (b), 7
(c), (d) and (g); and 8
(ii) non-expense assistance as mentioned in subsection 9
(7); 10
(b) additional assistance under section 48(3). 11
(6) For subsection (2)(a)(ii), the person is eligible for the 12
following special assistance-- 13
(a) if the person has not been paid any lump sum 14
compensation under the Workers' Compensation 15
Act--special assistance of the amount that would 16
ordinarily be payable to the person; 17
(b) if the person has been paid lump sum compensation 18
under the Workers' Compensation Act of an amount that 19
is less than the amount of special assistance that would 20
ordinarily be payable to the person--special assistance 21
of the difference between the special assistance that 22
would ordinarily be payable and the lump sum 23
compensation paid. 24
(7) For subsection (5)(a)(ii), the person is eligible for 25
non-expense assistance-- 26
(a) only if the amount of the compensation paid under the 27
Workers' Compensation Act is less than the amount of 28
the non-expense assistance that would ordinarily be 29
payable to the person; and 30
(b) only for the difference between the non-expense 31
assistance that would ordinarily be payable to the person 32
and the compensation paid under the Workers' 33
Compensation Act. 34
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Part 3 Relationship with workers' compensation
[s 33]
(8) In this section-- 1
non-expense assistance means the total amount of assistance 2
for the components mentioned in section 49(1)(e) and (f). 3
33 When a person's workers' compensation application is 4
finally dealt with 5
For this part, a person's workers' compensation application is 6
finally dealt with when the person's total entitlement to 7
compensation under the Workers' Compensation Act has been 8
decided under that Act, including, for example, because-- 9
(a) the person's workers' compensation application has 10
been rejected under that Act; or 11
(b) the person accepts or rejects an offer of lump sum 12
compensation under that Act; or 13
(c) the person's entitlement to compensation under that Act 14
stops under that Act. 15
Note-- 16
See, for example, the Workers' Compensation Act, chapter 3 17
(Compensation), part 8A (When entitlement to compensation 18
stops). 19
34 Generally workers' compensation application finally dealt 20
with before victim assistance application 21
(1) The person may apply for victim assistance in relation to the 22
act of violence committed against the person only if-- 23
(a) the person has made a workers' compensation 24
application; and 25
(b) the workers' compensation application has been finally 26
dealt with. 27
(2) The person may apply for victim assistance-- 28
(a) within 3 years after the person's workers' compensation 29
application is finally dealt with; or 30
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Part 3 Relationship with workers' compensation
[s 34]
(b) if the person is a child when the person's workers' 1
compensation application is finally dealt with--before 2
the person turns 21. 3
(3) Subsection (2) applies despite section 54(1). 4
(4) However, the scheme manager may, on application by the 5
person, give the person approval to make an application for 6
assistance without first making a workers' compensation 7
application if-- 8
(a) the reason the person has not made the workers' 9
compensation application is because the prescribed 10
period has passed; and 11
(b) the person has, under the Workers' Compensation Act, 12
section 131(4) or (5), applied to an insurer to waive the 13
need to make the worker's compensation application 14
within the prescribed period, and has been unsuccessful; 15
and 16
(c) the scheme manager is reasonably satisfied the person 17
has a reasonable excuse for not making the workers' 18
compensation application within the prescribed period, 19
having regard to any of the following-- 20
(i) the person's age when the act of violence was 21
committed; 22
(ii) whether the person has an impaired capacity; 23
(iii) whether the person who allegedly committed the 24
act of violence was in a position of power, 25
influence or trust in relation to the person; 26
Examples of persons who may be in a position of power, 27
influence or trust in relation to a person-- 28
a person's parent, spouse or carer 29
(iv) the physical or psychological effect of the act of 30
violence on the person; 31
(v) any other matter the scheme manager considers 32
relevant. 33
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Part 3 Relationship with workers' compensation
[s 35]
(5) The scheme manager must give a person who applies for an 1
approval under subsection (4) notice of the scheme manager's 2
decision on the application. 3
(6) If the scheme manager decides not to give the approval, the 4
notice must state the following-- 5
(a) the decision; 6
(b) the reasons for the decision; 7
Note-- 8
See the Acts Interpretation Act 1954, section 27B (Content of 9
statement of reasons for decision). 10
(c) the internal review details for the decision. 11
(7) In this section-- 12
prescribed period means the period within which a workers' 13
compensation application may be made under the Workers' 14
Compensation Act, section 131(1). 15
35 Application for particular victim assistance can be made 16
earlier 17
Despite section 34-- 18
(a) the person may, after making a workers' compensation 19
application but before that application is finally dealt, 20
apply for victim assistance for which the person is 21
eligible under section 32(2)(a)(i) or (b), (3)(a) or (b) or 22
(5)(a)(i) or (b); and 23
(b) the government assessor may decide the application. 24
36 Amendment of assistance after workers' compensation 25
application decided 26
(1) This section applies if-- 27
(a) the person makes an application under section 35 28
(original application) and is granted victim assistance; 29
and 30
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Part 3 Relationship with workers' compensation
[s 36]
(b) the person is eligible for special assistance under section 1
32(6) or non-expense assistance under section 32(7). 2
(2) The person may, within the period mentioned in section 34(2), 3
apply for an amendment of the victim assistance granted to 4
the person to allow for the special assistance or non-expense 5
assistance. 6
(3) The application for amendment (amendment application) 7
must-- 8
(a) be in the approved form; and 9
(b) contain details of the outcome of the person's workers' 10
compensation application; and 11
(c) contain anything else the government assessor needs to 12
decide whether special assistance or non-expense 13
assistance should be granted that-- 14
(i) would be required if the person were applying for 15
special assistance or non-expense assistance other 16
than by way of an amendment; and 17
(ii) was not given when the person made the original 18
application. 19
(4) The amendment application must be decided by the 20
government assessor who decided the original application or, 21
if that government assessor is not available to decide the 22
amendment application, another government assessor 23
nominated by the scheme manager. 24
(5) Sections 63, 64, 73, 74 and 77 and part 12, division 5 apply in 25
relation to the amendment application in the same way as they 26
apply in relation to the original application. 27
Editor's note-- 28
sections 63 (General principles), 64 (Further information, document or 29
consent), 73 (Examinations), 74 (Obtaining medical information from 30
designated person) and 77 (Obtaining information about relevant 31
payments) and part 12, division 5 (Working out amount of assistance) 32
(6) The government assessor must give the person notice of the 33
assessor's decision on the amendment application. 34
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Part 4 Primary victims
[s 37]
(7) If the decision is to refuse the application, to amend the 1
assistance granted in a way other than sought by the person, or 2
to amend the assistance granted subject to conditions, the 3
notice must state the following-- 4
(a) the decision; 5
(b) the reasons for the decision; 6
Note-- 7
See the Acts Interpretation Act 1954, section 27B (Content of 8
statement of reasons for decision). 9
(c) the internal review details for the decision. 10
(8) The government assessor deciding the amendment application 11
may increase the victim assistance granted to the person even 12
if the increase will cause an assistance limit to be exceeded. 13
(9) Part 13, division 2 applies to an increase in victim assistance 14
granted under this section in the same way as it applies to the 15
original grant of victim assistance. 16
Editor's note-- 17
part 13, division 2 (Paying assistance) 18
(10) In this section-- 19
non-expense assistance see section 32(8). 20
Part 4 Primary victims 21
37 Eligibility for assistance 22
A primary victim of an act of violence is eligible for 23
assistance. 24
Note-- 25
See, however, section 24. 26
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Chapter 3 Victims financial assistance scheme
Part 4 Primary victims
[s 38]
38 Amount of assistance 1
(1) A primary victim of an act of violence may be granted 2
assistance of up to $75000. 3
(2) Also, in addition to the assistance mentioned in subsection 4
(1), the primary victim may be granted assistance of up to 5
$500 for legal costs incurred by the victim in applying for 6
assistance under this Act. 7
39 Composition of assistance 8
The assistance granted under section 38(1) to a primary victim 9
of an act of violence may consist of 1 or more of the following 10
components-- 11
(a) reasonable counselling expenses incurred, or reasonably 12
likely to be incurred, by the victim as a direct result of 13
the act of violence; 14
(b) reasonable medical expenses incurred, or reasonably 15
likely to be incurred, by the victim as a direct result of 16
the act of violence; 17
(c) reasonable incidental travel expenses incurred, or 18
reasonably likely to be incurred, by the victim as a direct 19
result of the act of violence; 20
(d) reasonable report expenses incurred by the victim for 21
the victim's application for assistance (including 22
expenses incurred for an examination under section 73); 23
(e) loss of earnings of up to $20000 suffered, or reasonably 24
likely to be suffered, by the victim, as a direct result of 25
the act of violence, during a period of up to 2 years after 26
the act of violence; 27
(f) expenses incurred by the victim for loss of or damage to 28
clothing the victim was wearing when the act of 29
violence happened; 30
(g) if exceptional circumstances exist for the victim, other 31
expenses incurred, or reasonably likely to be incurred, 32
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Part 5 Parent secondary victims
[s 40]
by the victim to significantly help the victim recover 1
from the act of violence; 2
Examples of other expenses-- 3
· relocation expenses 4
· costs of securing the victim's place of residence or business 5
(h) special assistance in relation to the act of violence. 6
Part 5 Parent secondary victims 7
40 Eligibility for assistance 8
A parent secondary victim of an act of violence is eligible for 9
assistance. 10
Note-- 11
See, however, section 24. 12
41 Amount of assistance 13
(1) A parent secondary victim of an act of violence may be 14
granted assistance of up to $50000. 15
(2) However, if there is more than 1 parent of a child who was 16
injured as a direct result of an act of violence, only a 17
combined total of $50000 may be granted to the parents under 18
subsection (1). 19
(3) In addition to the assistance mentioned in subsection (1), each 20
parent secondary victim of an act of violence may be granted 21
assistance of up to $500 for legal costs incurred by the victim 22
in applying for assistance under this Act. 23
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Part 5 Parent secondary victims
[s 42]
42 Composition of assistance 1
(1) The assistance granted under section 41(1) to a parent 2
secondary victim of an act of violence may consist of 1 or 3
more of the following components-- 4
(a) reasonable counselling expenses incurred, or reasonably 5
likely to be incurred, by the victim as a direct result of 6
becoming aware of the act of violence; 7
(b) reasonable medical expenses incurred, or reasonably 8
likely to be incurred, by the victim as a direct result of 9
becoming aware of the act of violence; 10
(c) reasonable incidental travel expenses incurred, or 11
reasonably likely to be incurred, by the victim as a direct 12
result of becoming aware of the act of violence; 13
(d) reasonable report expenses incurred by the victim for 14
the victim's application for assistance (including 15
expenses incurred for an examination under section 73); 16
(e) if exceptional circumstances exist for the victim, loss of 17
earnings of up to $20000 suffered, or reasonably likely 18
to be suffered, by the victim, as a direct result of 19
becoming aware of the act of violence, during a period 20
of up to 2 years after the act; 21
(f) if exceptional circumstances exist for the victim, other 22
expenses incurred, or reasonably likely to be incurred, 23
by the victim to significantly help the victim recover 24
from the act of violence. 25
Examples of other expenses-- 26
· relocation expenses 27
· costs of securing the victim's place of residence or business 28
(2) However, if there is more than 1 parent of a child who was 29
injured as a direct result of an act of violence and for whom 30
exceptional circumstances exist, only a combined total of 31
$20000 may be granted to the parents under subsection (1)(e) 32
for loss of earnings suffered, or reasonably likely to be 33
suffered, by them. 34
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Chapter 3 Victims financial assistance scheme
Part 6 Witness secondary victims
[s 43]
Part 6 Witness secondary victims 1
43 Eligibility for assistance 2
A witness secondary victim of an act of violence is eligible for 3
assistance. 4
Note-- 5
See, however, section 24. 6
44 Amount of assistance 7
(1) A witness secondary victim of an act of violence may be 8
granted assistance of-- 9
(a) if the act is a more serious act of violence--up to 10
$50000, less any funeral expense assistance granted to 11
the victim for the act; or 12
(b) if the act is a less serious act of violence--up to $10000, 13
less any funeral expense assistance granted to the victim 14
for the act. 15
(2) In addition to the assistance mentioned in subsection (1)(a), 16
each witness secondary victim of a more serious act of 17
violence may be granted assistance of up to $500 for legal 18
costs incurred by the victim in applying for assistance under 19
this Act. 20
45 Composition of assistance--witness to more serious act 21
of violence 22
(1) The assistance granted under section 44(1)(a) to a witness 23
secondary victim of a more serious act of violence may 24
consist of 1 or more of the following components-- 25
(a) reasonable counselling expenses incurred, or reasonably 26
likely to be incurred, by the victim as a direct result of 27
witnessing the act of violence; 28
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Part 6 Witness secondary victims
[s 46]
(b) reasonable medical expenses incurred, or reasonably 1
likely to be incurred, by the victim as a direct result of 2
witnessing the act of violence; 3
(c) reasonable incidental travel expenses incurred, or 4
reasonably likely to be incurred, by the victim as a direct 5
result of witnessing the act of violence; 6
(d) reasonable report expenses incurred by the victim for 7
the victim's application for assistance (including 8
expenses incurred for an examination under section 73); 9
(e) if exceptional circumstances exist for the victim, loss of 10
earnings of up to $20000 suffered, or reasonably likely 11
to be suffered, by the victim, as a direct result of 12
witnessing the act of violence, during a period of up to 2 13
years after the act; 14
(f) if exceptional circumstances exist for the victim, other 15
expenses incurred, or reasonably likely to be incurred, 16
by the victim to significantly help the victim recover 17
from the act of violence. 18
Examples of other expenses-- 19
· relocation expenses 20
· costs of securing the victim's place of residence or business 21
(2) However, if there is more than 1 witness secondary victim of a 22
serious act of violence for whom exceptional circumstances 23
exist, only a combined total of $20000 may be granted to the 24
victims under subsection (1)(e) for loss of earnings suffered, 25
or reasonably likely to be suffered, by them. 26
46 Composition of assistance--witness to less serious act 27
of violence 28
The assistance granted under section 44(1)(b) to a witness 29
secondary victim of a less serious act of violence may consist 30
of 1 or more of the following components-- 31
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Chapter 3 Victims financial assistance scheme
Part 7 Related victims
[s 47]
(a) reasonable counselling expenses incurred, or reasonably 1
likely to be incurred, by the victim as a direct result of 2
witnessing the act of violence; 3
(b) reasonable medical expenses incurred, or reasonably 4
likely to be incurred, by the victim as a direct result of 5
witnessing the act of violence; 6
(c) reasonable incidental travel expenses incurred, or 7
reasonably likely to be incurred, by the victim as a direct 8
result of witnessing the act of violence; 9
(d) reasonable report expenses incurred by the victim for 10
the victim's application for assistance (including 11
expenses incurred for an examination under section 73). 12
Part 7 Related victims 13
47 Eligibility for assistance 14
A related victim of an act of violence is eligible for assistance. 15
Note-- 16
See, however, section 24. 17
48 Amount of assistance 18
(1) The related victims of an act of violence may be granted 19
assistance of up to a combined total of $100000 less the total 20
of any funeral expense assistance granted in relation to the act 21
to the related victims. 22
(2) Within the limit set by subsection (1), an individual related 23
victim may be granted assistance of up to $50000 less any 24
funeral expense assistance granted to the victim in relation to 25
the act. 26
(3) In addition to the assistance mentioned in subsection (2), each 27
related victim may be granted assistance of up to $500 for 28
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Part 7 Related victims
[s 49]
legal costs incurred by the victim in applying for assistance 1
under this Act. 2
49 Composition of assistance 3
(1) The assistance granted under section 48(2) to a related victim 4
may consist of 1 or more of the following components-- 5
(a) reasonable counselling expenses incurred, or reasonably 6
likely to be incurred, by the victim as a direct result of 7
becoming aware of the primary victim's death; 8
(b) reasonable medical expenses incurred, or reasonably 9
likely to be incurred, by the victim as a direct result of 10
becoming aware of the primary victim's death; 11
(c) reasonable incidental travel expenses incurred, or 12
reasonably likely to be incurred, by the victim as a direct 13
result of becoming aware of the primary victim's death; 14
(d) reasonable report expenses incurred by the victim for 15
the victim's application for assistance (including 16
expenses incurred for an examination under section 73); 17
(e) an amount of up to $20000 that, but for the death of the 18
primary victim of the act of violence, the related victim 19
would have been reasonably likely to receive from the 20
primary victim, during a period of up to 2 years after the 21
primary victim's death; 22
(f) an amount of up to $10000 for distress suffered, or 23
reasonably likely to be suffered, by the related victim as 24
a direct result of the primary victim's death; 25
(g) if exceptional circumstances exist for the victim, other 26
expenses incurred, or reasonably likely to be incurred, 27
by the victim to significantly help the victim recover 28
from the primary victim's death. 29
Examples of other expenses-- 30
· relocation expenses 31
· costs of securing the victim's place of residence or business 32
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Victims of Crime Assistance Bill 2009
Chapter 3 Victims financial assistance scheme
Part 8 Person who incurs funeral expenses for primary victim's funeral
[s 50]
(2) However, if there is more than 1 related victim of an act of 1
violence, only a combined total of $20000 may be granted to 2
the related victims under subsection (1)(e). 3
Part 8 Person who incurs funeral 4
expenses for primary victim's 5
funeral 6
50 Eligibility and assistance 7
(1) A person who incurs funeral expenses for the funeral of a 8
primary victim of an act of violence who has died as a direct 9
result of the act is eligible for assistance. 10
(2) However, a person who incurs funeral expenses for the funeral 11
of a primary victim of an act of violence committed by the 12
person is not eligible for assistance under subsection (1). 13
(3) A person eligible for assistance under subsection (1) may be 14
granted assistance of up to $6000 for funeral expenses 15
incurred, or reasonably likely to be incurred, by the person for 16
the funeral of the primary victim. 17
(4) However, if more than 1 person is eligible for assistance under 18
subsection (1) in relation to an act of violence, only a 19
combined total of $6000 may be granted to the persons for the 20
funeral expenses incurred, or reasonably likely to be incurred, 21
by them for the funeral of the primary victim. 22
(5) To remove any doubt, it is declared that a person may be 23
eligible for assistance under subsection (1) in relation to an act 24
of violence even though the person is also a witness secondary 25
victim or related victim of the act. 26
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Part 9 Applying for victim assistance
[s 51]
Part 9 Applying for victim assistance 1
51 Who may apply for victim assistance 2
(1) A victim of an act of violence may apply to the scheme 3
manager for victim assistance. 4
(2) If the victim is a child, the application may be made by-- 5
(a) the child's parent on behalf of the child; or 6
(b) if the child is at least 12 years old and is represented by 7
a lawyer, the child; or 8
(c) someone else approved by the scheme manager. 9
(3) For subsection (2)(a)-- 10
(a) if a person is granted guardianship of a child under a 11
child protection order under the Child Protection Act 12
1999--the reference to the child's parent in the 13
subsection is taken to be a reference to that person; and 14
(b) if a person has the right and responsibility to make 15
decisions about a child's daily care under a decision or 16
order of a federal court or a court of a State, other than a 17
temporary order--the reference to the child's parent in 18
the subsection is taken to be a reference to that person; 19
and 20
(c) subject to paragraphs (a) and (b), the reference to the 21
child's parent in the subsection does not include an 22
approved carer of the child. 23
(4) If the victim is an adult with an impaired capacity, the 24
application may be made by-- 25
(a) if the victim has a guardian for a legal matter--the 26
guardian; or 27
(b) if the victim does not have a guardian for a legal matter 28
but has an administrator--the administrator; or 29
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Chapter 3 Victims financial assistance scheme
Part 9 Applying for victim assistance
[s 52]
(c) if the victim does not have a guardian for a legal matter 1
or an administrator--an attorney appointed by the 2
victim under an enduring power of attorney; or 3
(d) if the victim does not have a guardian for legal matters 4
or an administrator and has not appointed a person 5
under an enduring power of attorney-- 6
(i) a member of the victim's support network; or 7
(ii) someone else approved by the scheme manager. 8
(5) If the victim is not a child or an adult with impaired capacity 9
but requires assistance in making an application under this 10
chapter, the application may be made by someone else 11
approved by the scheme manager. 12
Example-- 13
If a victim can not understand English, the scheme manager may 14
approve a relative of the victim who can understand English to make the 15
application on the victim's behalf. 16
(6) For this Act, the victim is still the applicant even though under 17
subsection (2), (4) or (5) an application is made by someone 18
else for the victim. 19
(7) In this section-- 20
lawyer means an Australian legal practitioner, or a 21
government legal officer, within the meaning of the Legal 22
Profession Act 2007. 23
legal matter see the Guardianship and Administration Act 24
2000, schedule 2, part 3. 25
support network see the Guardianship and Administration 26
Act 2000, schedule 4. 27
52 Form of application 28
An application for victim assistance must-- 29
(a) be in the approved form; and 30
(b) be accompanied by-- 31
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(i) if the applicant is a primary victim or secondary 1
victim, or a related victim who is applying for 2
assistance for an expense, loss of earnings or other 3
component of assistance in relation to an injury--a 4
medical certificate about the applicant's injury that 5
is in the approved form; and 6
(ii) other documents supporting the application; and 7
(c) contain the consent of the relevant person for the 8
government assessor to obtain information mentioned in 9
section 74 or 77(1) in relation to the applicant; and 10
(d) be verified by the applicant, or the person making the 11
application for the applicant, by a statutory declaration. 12
53 Details of other victims 13
(1) If the applicant for victim assistance is a parent secondary 14
victim of an act of violence, the application must state the 15
name and address of each other person the applicant knows or 16
reasonably suspects-- 17
(a) is a parent secondary victim of the act; or 18
(b) is someone who may claim that he or she is a parent 19
secondary victim of the act. 20
(2) If the applicant for victim assistance is a related victim of an 21
act of violence, the application must state the name and 22
address of each other person the applicant knows or 23
reasonably suspects-- 24
(a) is a related victim of the act; or 25
(b) is someone who may claim that he or she is a related 26
victim of the act. 27
(3) For subsection (1) or (2), if the applicant does not know the 28
name or address of another person, it is enough for the 29
application to state what the applicant knows about the other 30
person. 31
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54 Time limit 1
(1) An application for victim assistance for an act of violence 2
must be made within 3 years after-- 3
(a) the act of violence happens; or 4
(b) for an application by a related victim--the death of the 5
primary victim of the act; or 6
(c) for a victim who is a child--the day the child turns 18. 7
(2) The scheme manager may, on application by a person, extend 8
the time for the person making an application for victim 9
assistance if the scheme manager considers it would be 10
appropriate and desirable to do so, having regard to the 11
following-- 12
(a) the person's age when the act of violence was 13
committed; 14
(b) whether the person has an impaired capacity; 15
(c) whether the person who allegedly committed the act of 16
violence was in a position of power, influence or trust in 17
relation to the person; 18
Examples of persons who may be in a position of power, influence 19
or trust in relation to a person-- 20
a person's parent, spouse or carer 21
(d) the physical or psychological effect of the act of 22
violence on the person; 23
(e) whether the delay in making the application undermines 24
the possibility of a fair decision; 25
(f) any other matter the scheme manager considers relevant. 26
(3) The scheme manager must give a person who applies for an 27
extension of time under subsection (2) notice of the scheme 28
manager's decision on the application. 29
(4) If the scheme manager decides not to extend the time for 30
making an application for victim assistance, the notice must 31
state the following-- 32
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(a) the decision; 1
(b) the reasons for the decision; 2
Note-- 3
See the Acts Interpretation Act 1954, section 27B (Content of 4
statement of reasons for decision). 5
(c) the internal review details for the decision. 6
55 Applying for victim assistance and funeral expense 7
assistance together 8
(1) This section applies if, on the same approved form, a victim of 9
an act of violence is applying for-- 10
(a) victim assistance; and 11
(b) funeral expense assistance. 12
(2) The government assessor may consider the applications 13
together. 14
(3) Subsection (2) does not apply if deciding the application for 15
victim assistance has been delayed under section 71(3). 16
Part 10 Applying for funeral expense 17
assistance 18
56 Who may apply for funeral expense assistance 19
A person who incurs, or is reasonably likely to incur, funeral 20
expenses for the funeral of a primary victim of an act of 21
violence may apply to the scheme manager for funeral 22
expense assistance. 23
57 Form of application 24
An application for funeral expense assistance must-- 25
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(a) be in the approved form; and 1
(b) be verified by the applicant by a statutory declaration. 2
58 Time limit 3
An application for funeral expense assistance must be made 4
within 3 years after the death of the primary victim. 5
Part 11 Withdrawal, amendment or 6
lapse of applications 7
59 Withdrawal of application 8
An applicant for assistance may, by notice given to the 9
scheme manager, withdraw the application at any time before 10
the application is decided. 11
60 Amendment of application 12
(1) An applicant for assistance may, by notice given to the 13
scheme manager, amend the application at any time before the 14
application is decided. 15
(2) Without limiting subsection (1), an applicant may amend the 16
application to change the capacity in which the applicant is 17
applying for assistance. 18
61 Lapse of application if no contact 19
(1) This section applies if an applicant for assistance has not 20
made any contact with the government assessor dealing with 21
the application for 6 months. 22
(2) The government assessor may give the applicant a notice 23
stating that if the applicant does not contact the government 24
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assessor within 6 months after the notice is given, the 1
application will lapse under subsection (4). 2
(3) The notice must be sent to the address stated in the application 3
for assistance or, if the applicant has given the government 4
assessor another address for service of notices, the other 5
address. 6
(4) If the applicant is given a notice under this section and the 7
applicant does not contact the government assessor within 6 8
months after the notice is given, the applicant's application for 9
assistance lapses. 10
(5) The lapsing of an application under this section does not 11
prevent the applicant making another application for 12
assistance under this chapter. 13
Note-- 14
See section 54 (for victim assistance) or 58 (for funeral expense 15
assistance) for the time within which the application must be made. 16
(6) For this section, contact with the government assessor dealing 17
with the application includes-- 18
(a) contact with the scheme manager; and 19
(b) contact with another government assessor acting for the 20
government assessor dealing with the application. 21
Part 12 Considering applications for 22
assistance 23
Division 1 Considering applications generally 24
62 Choosing government assessor 25
(1) The scheme manager must, as soon as practicable after 26
receiving an application for assistance, choose an 27
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appropriately qualified government assessor to deal with the 1
application. 2
Note-- 3
See section 130 for the requirement that a government assessor disclose 4
interests that may conflict with the performance of functions in relation 5
to the application. 6
(2) From time to time, the scheme manager may assign another 7
appropriately qualified government assessor to deal with the 8
application, whether in addition to or in place of the 9
government assessor previously assigned under subsection (1) 10
or section 130. 11
(3) In this section-- 12
appropriately qualified, for dealing with an application for 13
assistance, means appropriately qualified having regard to-- 14
(a) the complexity of the issues involved; and 15
(b) any other matter the scheme manager considers relevant. 16
63 General principles 17
In deciding an application for assistance, the government 18
assessor must-- 19
(a) observe the principles of natural justice; and 20
(b) act as quickly as the requirements under this Act and a 21
proper consideration of the application permit. 22
64 Further information, document or consent 23
(1) Before deciding an application for assistance, the government 24
assessor may-- 25
(a) ask the applicant for further information or a document 26
the assessor reasonably requires to decide the 27
application; or 28
(b) ask the relevant person for consent for the assessor to 29
obtain from someone else stated further information or a 30
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stated document about the applicant the assessor 1
reasonably requires to decide the application. 2
(2) The government assessor may stop considering the 3
application until the further information or document or the 4
consent is given to the assessor. 5
(3) If the applicant does not give the further information or 6
document, or the relevant person does not given the consent, 7
within 42 days after the government assessor asks for it, or a 8
longer period agreed to by the scheme manager, the 9
application lapses. 10
(4) The lapsing of an application under this section does not 11
prevent the applicant making another application for 12
assistance under this chapter. 13
Note-- 14
See section 54 (for victim assistance) or 58 (for funeral expense 15
assistance) for the time within which the application must be made. 16
65 Obtaining information about act of violence 17
(1) The government assessor may ask the police commissioner 18
for the following for a stated act of violence in relation to 19
which assistance is sought-- 20
(a) information about-- 21
(i) the circumstances of the act of violence; or 22
(ii) the progress of investigations being conducted 23
about the act of violence; or 24
(iii) the charge (if any) laid for the act of violence and 25
details of the place and date of hearing of the 26
proceeding for the charge; or 27
(iv) if a charge is not laid or not continued with--the 28
reasons for not laying or continuing with a charge; 29
or 30
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(v) the outcome of a proceeding for the charge, 1
including any sentence imposed and the outcome 2
of any appeal; 3
(b) a copy of any statement about the act of violence made 4
by the primary victim of the act; 5
(c) further details about any of the information mentioned 6
in paragraph (a), including any changes to the 7
information previously provided. 8
(2) The police commissioner must comply with a request under 9
subsection (1). 10
(3) The police commissioner's obligation to comply with a 11
request under subsection (1) applies only to information or 12
statements in the police commissioner's possession or to 13
which the police commissioner has access. 14
(4) The police commissioner must not give information about an 15
investigation relating to the act of violence if the police 16
commissioner is reasonably satisfied giving the information-- 17
(a) may prejudice or otherwise hinder an investigation to 18
which the information may be relevant; or 19
(b) may lead to the identification of an informant or a 20
person who is a notifier under the Child Protection Act 21
1999, section 186; or 22
(c) may affect the safety of a police officer, complainant or 23
other person. 24
(5) The police commissioner may give information, a copy of a 25
statement or further details requested under subsection (1) by 26
allowing the government assessor to access an electronic 27
database maintained by the police service. 28
(6) If the police commissioner gives the government assessor 29
access to an electronic database as mentioned in subsection 30
(5), the access to, and the use of, the database is limited to the 31
extent it is connected with the requested information. 32
(7) The giving of information, a copy of a statement or further 33
details under subsection (2) is authorised despite any other 34
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Act or law, including a law imposing an obligation to maintain 1
confidentiality about the information. 2
Note-- 3
See section 140 for restrictions on disclosing or giving access to 4
information or documents obtained under this Act. 5
66 Obtaining copies of witness statements, or information 6
about particular conduct, in relation to act of violence 7
(1) The government assessor may ask the following (each the 8
relevant police official) for the documents and information 9
mentioned in subsection (2) for a stated act of violence in 10
relation to which assistance is sought-- 11
(a) the police officer investigating the act of violence; 12
(b) if the government assessor does not know the name of 13
the police officer investigating the act of violence, or the 14
police officer is not available--the police commissioner. 15
(2) For subsection (1), the documents and information are the 16
documents and information the relevant police official 17
considers may be relevant to deciding the application for the 18
assistance, including-- 19
(a) copies of statements made by witnesses to the act of 20
violence; 21
(b) documents and information the relevant police official 22
considers may be relevant to deciding-- 23
(i) whether the applicant for the assistance committed 24
the act of violence, or conspired with the person 25
who allegedly committed the act of violence; or 26
(ii) whether the only or main reason the act of violence 27
was committed against the primary victim of the 28
act was the primary victim's involvement in a 29
criminal activity; or 30
(iii) whether the applicant has not given reasonable 31
assistance in the police investigation of the act of 32
violence, or in the arrest or prosecution of the 33
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person who allegedly committed the act of 1
violence, and whether the failure has prevented the 2
arrest or prosecution of the person who allegedly 3
committed the act of violence. 4
(3) The relevant police official must comply with a request under 5
subsection (1) if, and to the extent, the relevant police official 6
is reasonably satisfied the government assessor reasonably 7
requires the documents and information to decide the 8
application. 9
(4) A copy of a statement mentioned in subsection (2)(a) may 10
include particulars identifying the witness only if the relevant 11
police official reasonably believes the identity of the witness 12
is relevant to deciding the application. 13
(5) The relevant police official's obligation to comply with a 14
request under subsection (1) applies only to statements or 15
information in the relevant police official's possession or to 16
which the relevant police official has access. 17
(6) The relevant police official must not give information about 18
an investigation relating to the act of violence if the relevant 19
police official is reasonably satisfied giving the information-- 20
(a) may prejudice or otherwise hinder an investigation to 21
which the information may be relevant; or 22
(b) may lead to the identification of an informant or a 23
person who is a notifier under the Child Protection Act 24
1999, section 186; or 25
(c) may affect the safety of a police officer, complainant or 26
other person. 27
(7) The giving of a document or information under subsection (3) 28
is authorised despite any other Act or law, including a law 29
imposing an obligation to maintain confidentiality about the 30
information. 31
Note-- 32
See section 140 for restrictions on disclosing or giving access to 33
information or documents obtained under this Act. 34
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67 Obtaining information about prosecution 1
(1) The government assessor may ask the director of public 2
prosecutions for the following information about a stated act 3
of violence in relation to which assistance is sought-- 4
(a) details of the charges laid for the act of violence, 5
including any charge laid against a person for conspiring 6
with the person who committed the act; 7
(b) details of the place and date of hearing of the proceeding 8
for the charge; 9
(c) a decision to substantially change the charge, or not to 10
continue with the charge, or to accept a plea of guilty to 11
a lesser charge; 12
(d) the outcome of a proceeding for the charge, including 13
any sentence imposed and the outcome of any appeal. 14
(2) The director must comply with the request if the director is 15
reasonably satisfied the government assessor reasonably 16
requires the information to decide the application. 17
(3) The giving of information by the director under subsection (2) 18
is authorised despite any other Act or law, including a law 19
imposing an obligation to maintain confidentiality about the 20
information. 21
Note-- 22
See section 140 for restrictions on disclosing or giving access to 23
information or documents obtained under this Act. 24
68 Confirming release or discharge date 25
(1) This section applies if an applicant for assistance is being 26
detained in a correctional services facility under the 27
Corrective Services Act 2006. 28
(2) The government assessor may ask the chief executive 29
(corrective services) to confirm the date the applicant will be 30
released or discharged under the Corrective Services Act 31
2006. 32
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(3) The chief executive (corrective services) must comply with 1
the request if the chief executive (corrective services) is 2
reasonably satisfied the government assessor reasonably 3
requires the information to decide the application. 4
(4) The disclosure of information by the chief executive 5
(corrective services) under subsection (3) is authorised despite 6
any other Act or law, including a law imposing an obligation 7
to maintain confidentiality about the information. 8
Note-- 9
See section 140 for restrictions on disclosing or giving access to 10
information or documents obtained under this Act. 11
69 Obtaining primary victim's criminal history from police 12
commissioner 13
(1) If a primary victim of an act of violence is an applicant for 14
victim assistance and the government assessor has the relevant 15
person's consent for obtaining the victim's criminal history, 16
the government assessor may ask the police commissioner for 17
a written report about the victim's criminal history. 18
Note-- 19
See section 80 for when a primary victim's criminal history may be 20
relevant. 21
(2) The government assessor may also ask the police 22
commissioner for a written report about the criminal history 23
of a primary victim of an act of violence who has died as a 24
direct result of the act if it may be relevant for deciding an 25
application for assistance by someone else. 26
Note-- 27
See section 80(2) for when a primary victim's criminal history may be 28
relevant for deciding an application for assistance by someone else. 29
(3) Also, the government assessor may ask the police 30
commissioner for a brief description of the circumstances of a 31
conviction for an offence mentioned in the primary victim's 32
criminal history. 33
(4) A request under this section may include the following-- 34
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(a) the name of the person in relation to which the report is 1
sought and any other name the government assessor 2
believes the person may use or may have used; 3
(b) the date and place of birth, gender and address of the 4
person in relation to which the report is sought. 5
(5) The police commissioner must comply with a request under 6
this section. 7
(6) The police commissioner's obligation to comply with a 8
request under this section applies only to information in the 9
police commissioner's possession or to which the 10
commissioner has access. 11
(7) The disclosure of a person's criminal history under this 12
section is authorised despite any other Act or law, including a 13
law imposing an obligation to maintain confidentiality about 14
particular information included in the criminal history. 15
Note-- 16
See section 140 for restrictions on disclosing or giving access to 17
information or documents obtained under this Act. 18
(8) The government assessor may stop considering a primary 19
victim's application for victim assistance if the relevant 20
person does not give the government assessor consent for 21
obtaining the victim's criminal history under this section. 22
(9) The government assessor may use the contents of a report 23
obtained under this section only to decide whether an 24
application should be refused under section 80. 25
(10) The government assessor must destroy a report obtained under 26
this section when it is no longer required for deciding the 27
application for which it was sought or a review or appeal, or 28
potential review or appeal, relating to the application. 29
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Division 2 Additional provisions about 1
considering applications for victim 2
assistance 3
70 Deciding applications for series of related crimes 4
(1) This section applies if-- 5
(a) a person has made 2 or more applications for victim 6
assistance; and 7
(b) the scheme manager reasonably considers the 8
applications relate to a series of related crimes. 9
(2) The scheme manager may decide that the applications must be 10
decided together as 1 application for a single act of violence 11
involving the series of related crimes. 12
Note-- 13
See section 25(6). 14
(3) However, before acting under subsection (2), the scheme 15
manager must-- 16
(a) give the person a notice-- 17
(i) stating the manager is proposing that the 18
applications be decided together as 1 application 19
for a single act of violence involving the series of 20
related crimes; and 21
(ii) inviting the person to give the scheme manager, 22
within a stated time of at least 7 days, a written 23
submission about the proposal; and 24
(b) have regard to any submission received from the person 25
within the stated time. 26
(4) If the scheme manager decides that the applications must be 27
decided together under subsection (2), the scheme manager 28
must give the person a notice stating the following-- 29
(a) the decision; 30
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(b) the reasons for the decision; 1
Note-- 2
See the Acts Interpretation Act 1954, section 27B (Content of 3
statement of reasons for decision). 4
(c) the internal review details for the decision. 5
71 Notifying other victims etc. 6
(1) This section applies if the applicant for victim assistance is-- 7
(a) a parent secondary victim of an act of violence; or 8
(b) a witness secondary victim of a serious act of violence 9
who has applied for victim assistance for loss of 10
earnings suffered, or reasonably likely to be suffered, by 11
the victim; or 12
(c) a related victim of an act of violence. 13
(2) The government assessor must-- 14
(a) take reasonable steps to identify each other person who 15
is a victim of the same kind as the applicant and who has 16
not already applied for victim assistance in that 17
capacity; and 18
(b) give each person identified under paragraph (a) a 19
notice-- 20
(i) stating that the application has been made; and 21
(ii) inviting the person to apply for victim assistance 22
within 3 months after the notice is given. 23
(3) The government assessor must not decide the applicant's 24
application until after the end of the 3 month period 25
mentioned in subsection (2)(b)(ii). 26
(4) Subsection (3) does not prevent the government assessor from 27
granting interim assistance under part 14 to a parent 28
secondary victim or related victim for expenses incurred, or 29
reasonably likely to be incurred, by the victim, if the 30
government assessor is reasonably satisfied-- 31
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(a) the matters for which the expenses are incurred, or are 1
reasonably likely to be incurred, will significantly help 2
the victim to recover from the act of violence; and 3
(b) it is necessary for the person to incur the expenses 4
before the application is decided. 5
(5) Also, if a witness secondary victim of a serious act of violence 6
has also applied for victim assistance other than for loss of 7
earnings-- 8
(a) subsection (3) only applies to the extent the application 9
is for loss of earnings; and 10
(b) the application for loss of earnings is taken to have been 11
made as a separate application for this chapter. 12
72 Notified victims failing to make application 13
(1) This section applies if-- 14
(a) a person is given a notice under section 71(2)(b); and 15
(b) the person does not apply for victim assistance within 16
the 3 month period mentioned in section 71(2)(b)(ii); 17
and 18
(c) the applicant's application for victim assistance for 19
which the notice was given is decided. 20
(2) The person can not apply for victim assistance in relation to 21
the act of violence without the scheme manager's approval. 22
(3) The scheme manager may give the approval only if the 23
scheme manager is reasonably satisfied the person had a 24
reasonable excuse for not making the application within the 3 25
month period. 26
(4) If the scheme manager decides not to give the approval, the 27
scheme manager must give the person a notice stating the 28
following-- 29
(a) the decision; 30
(b) the reasons for the decision; 31
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Note-- 1
See the Acts Interpretation Act 1954, section 27B (Content of 2
statement of reasons for decision). 3
(c) the internal review details for the decision. 4
(5) Despite anything else in this chapter, the person is only 5
eligible for victim assistance of up to the remaining pool 6
amount (if any) for the act of violence. 7
73 Examinations 8
(1) The government assessor may-- 9
(a) ask an applicant for victim assistance to undergo an 10
examination by a health practitioner nominated by the 11
assessor so that a report of the examination can be given 12
to the assessor under this section; and 13
(b) ask the relevant person to give the government assessor 14
consent to obtain the report of the examination from the 15
health practitioner who conducts the examination. 16
(2) If the relevant person gives consent as mentioned in 17
subsection (1)(b), the government assessor may ask the health 18
practitioner who conducts the examination under subsection 19
(1)(a) to give a report of the examination to the government 20
assessor. 21
(3) A health practitioner who is asked by the government assessor 22
to give the assessor a report of an examination conducted 23
under subsection (1)(a) may give the assessor a report of the 24
examination. 25
(4) A report given under subsection (3)-- 26
(a) must be in the approved form; and 27
(b) may include another document the health practitioner 28
considers should be read with the report. 29
(5) The giving of a report under this section by a health 30
practitioner is authorised despite any other Act or law, 31
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including a law imposing an obligation to maintain 1
confidentiality about the examination. 2
Note-- 3
See section 140 for restrictions on disclosing or giving access to 4
information or documents obtained under this Act. 5
(6) The government assessor may stop considering the applicant's 6
application for victim assistance until the government 7
assessor receives a report of the examination requested under 8
this section. 9
74 Obtaining medical information from designated person 10
(1) If the government assessor has the necessary consent for 11
obtaining medical information about an applicant for victim 12
assistance, the government assessor may ask a designated 13
person for medical information about the applicant. 14
(2) A designated person who is asked by the government assessor 15
to give the assessor medical information about a stated 16
applicant for victim assistance may give the assessor the 17
medical information. 18
(3) The disclosure of medical information by a designated person 19
under subsection (2) is authorised despite any other Act or 20
law, including a law imposing an obligation to maintain 21
confidentiality about the information. 22
Note-- 23
See section 140 for restrictions on disclosing or giving access to 24
information or documents obtained under this Act. 25
(4) In this section-- 26
designated person means a designated person as defined 27
under the Health Services Act 1991, section 60. 28
medical information, about a person, means the person's 29
medical history so far as it is relevant to deciding the 30
application. 31
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necessary consent, in relation to an applicant for victim 1
assistance, means consent of the relevant person for the 2
applicant as mentioned in section 52(c). 3
75 Obtaining information about child's injuries or needs 4
(1) This section applies if an applicant for victim assistance is a 5
child who, under the Child Protection Act 1999, is in the 6
custody, or under the guardianship, of the chief executive 7
(child protection) or someone else. 8
(2) The government assessor may ask the chief executive (child 9
protection) for information about the following-- 10
(a) the applicant's injuries; 11
(b) any special needs the applicant may have; 12
(c) confirmation that a stated person has been granted 13
custody or guardianship of the applicant under a child 14
protection order under the Child Protection Act 1999. 15
(3) The chief executive (child protection) must comply with the 16
request if the chief executive is reasonably satisfied the 17
government assessor reasonably requires the information to 18
decide the application. 19
(4) The disclosure of information by the chief executive (child 20
protection) under subsection (3) is authorised despite any 21
other Act or law, including a law imposing an obligation to 22
maintain confidentiality about the information. 23
Note-- 24
See section 140 for restrictions on disclosing or giving access to 25
information or documents obtained under this Act. 26
76 Obtaining information about person with impaired 27
capacity 28
(1) This section applies if the government assessor knows, or 29
reasonably suspects, an applicant for victim assistance has an 30
impaired capacity. 31
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(2) The government assessor may ask the QCAT principal 1
registrar to-- 2
(a) advise whether a person has been appointed under the 3
Guardianship and Administration Act 2000 as the 4
guardian or administrator of the applicant and, if so, the 5
person's name and address; or 6
(b) confirm whether a stated person is the guardian or 7
administrator of the applicant. 8
(3) The QCAT principal registrar must comply with the request if 9
the principal registrar is reasonably satisfied the government 10
assessor reasonably requires the information to decide the 11
application. 12
(4) The disclosure of information by the QCAT principal registrar 13
under subsection (3) is authorised despite any other Act or 14
law, including a law imposing an obligation to maintain 15
confidentiality about the information. 16
Note-- 17
See section 140 for restrictions on disclosing or giving access to 18
information or documents obtained under this Act. 19
(5) In this section-- 20
QCAT principal registrar means the principal registrar under 21
the QCAT Act. 22
77 Obtaining information about relevant payments 23
(1) If the government assessor has the necessary consent for 24
obtaining information under this section about an applicant 25
for victim assistance in relation to an act of violence, the 26
government assessor may-- 27
(a) ask the insurance commissioner under the Motor 28
Accident Insurance Act 1994 for information about-- 29
(i) whether the applicant has, in relation to the act of 30
violence, made a claim under that Act and, if so, 31
the status of the claim; or 32
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(ii) if the applicant's claim is successful under that 1
Act--the amount paid or payable to the applicant 2
in relation to the claim; or 3
(b) ask the police commissioner for information about-- 4
(i) whether the applicant has, in relation to the act of 5
violence, applied for compensation under the 6
Police Service Administration Act 1990, section 7
10.8 and, if so, the status of the application; or 8
(ii) if the applicant's application for compensation is 9
granted under that Act--the amount of 10
compensation paid or payable to the applicant; or 11
(c) ask the Workers' Compensation chief executive officer 12
for information about-- 13
(i) whether the applicant has, in relation to the act of 14
violence, applied for compensation under the 15
Workers' Compensation Act and, if so, the status 16
of the application; or 17
(ii) if the applicant's application for compensation is 18
granted under the Workers' Compensation 19
Act--the amount of compensation paid or payable 20
to the applicant and the expenses, loss of earnings 21
or other amount for which the compensation was 22
paid or is payable. 23
(2) Also, the government assessor may ask the chief executive 24
(corrective services) for information about-- 25
(a) whether an applicant for victim assistance has, in 26
relation to the act of violence in relation to which 27
assistance is sought, started a proceeding under chapter 28
6, part 12B of that Act and, if so, the status of the 29
proceeding; or 30
(b) if an applicant for victim assistance is successful in a 31
proceeding under chapter 6, part 12B of that Act--the 32
amount paid or payable to the applicant in relation to the 33
proceeding. 34
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(3) Also, if a dispute relating to a relevant offence for an act of 1
violence in relation to which assistance is sought has been 2
referred for mediation under the Dispute Resolution Centres 3
Act 1990, the government assessor may ask a director under 4
that Act for information about-- 5
(a) whether an agreement has been reached for the dispute 6
following mediation under that Act; or 7
(b) if an agreement has been reached for the dispute 8
following mediation under that Act--whether the 9
agreement provided for the payment of an amount from 10
the person who allegedly committed the offence to a 11
stated victim of the act of violence and, if so, the amount 12
paid or to be or payable to the victim under the 13
agreement. 14
(4) An entity to whom a request is made under subsection (1), (2) 15
or (3) must comply with the request. 16
(5) For a request under subsection (2) or (3), subsection (4) 17
applies only if the entity is reasonably satisfied the 18
government assessor reasonably requires the requested 19
information to decide the application. 20
(6) The disclosure of information by an entity under subsection 21
(4) is authorised despite any other Act or law, including a law 22
imposing an obligation to maintain confidentiality about the 23
information. 24
Note-- 25
See section 140 for restrictions on disclosing or giving access to 26
information or documents obtained under this Act. 27
(7) In this section-- 28
necessary consent, in relation to an applicant for victim 29
assistance, means consent of the relevant person for the 30
applicant as mentioned in section 52(c). 31
Workers' Compensation chief executive officer means the 32
chief executive officer of the Authority, or WorkCover, within 33
the meaning of the Workers' Compensation Act. 34
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Division 3 Restrictions on granting assistance 1
78 Grant only if applicant is eligible 2
The government assessor may grant assistance to a person 3
only if the government assessor is satisfied, on the balance of 4
probabilities, the person is eligible for the assistance under 5
this chapter. 6
79 No grant if applicant conspired to commit act of violence 7
The government assessor can not grant assistance to a person 8
if the government assessor is satisfied, on the balance of 9
probabilities, the person conspired with the person who 10
committed the act of violence in relation to which assistance 11
is sought. 12
80 No grant to particular persons if primary victim's 13
activities caused act of violence 14
(1) The government assessor can not grant assistance to a primary 15
victim of an act of violence if the government assessor is 16
satisfied, on the balance of probabilities, the only reason, or 17
the main reason, the act of violence was committed against 18
the primary victim was-- 19
(a) because the victim was involved in a criminal activity 20
when the act of violence happened; or 21
(b) because of the victim's previous involvement in a 22
criminal activity, whether or not the victim is currently 23
involved in the criminal activity. 24
(2) The government assessor can not grant assistance in relation 25
to an act of violence to a person who is not the primary victim 26
of the act if the government assessor is satisfied, on the 27
balance of probabilities-- 28
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(a) the only reason, or the main reason, the act of violence 1
was committed against the primary victim of the act was 2
a reason mentioned in subsection (1)(a) or (b); and 3
(b) the person was, or ought reasonably to have been, aware 4
of the primary victim's involvement in the criminal 5
activity. 6
(3) Subsection (2) does not apply if the person was aware of the 7
primary victim's involvement in the criminal activity only 8
because the person witnessed the act of violence. 9
(4) In deciding whether a primary victim of an act of violence 10
was involved in a criminal activity, the government assessor 11
may have regard to the following-- 12
(a) any information, or the contents of any document, about 13
the act of violence obtained under section 65 or 66; and 14
(b) the circumstances of the offences to which the 15
convictions mentioned in the victim's criminal history 16
relate, including-- 17
(i) when the offences happened; and 18
(ii) the seriousness of the offences; and 19
(iii) the primary victim's age when the offences 20
happened; and 21
(iv) the regularity of the offences; and 22
(c) any other matters the assessor considers relevant for 23
assessing the primary victim's involvement in a criminal 24
activity. 25
81 No grant if act of violence not reported 26
(1) The government assessor can not grant assistance in relation 27
to an act of violence if-- 28
(a) the act of violence has not been reported to-- 29
(i) a police officer; or 30
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(ii) for an act of violence against a special primary 1
victim--a police officer or the victim's counsellor, 2
psychologist or doctor; and 3
(b) the government assessor is reasonably satisfied there is 4
no reasonable excuse for the report not being made. 5
(2) In this section-- 6
psychologist means a person registered under the 7
Psychologists Registration Act 2001, part 3. 8
special primary victim means-- 9
(a) a primary victim of an act of violence-- 10
(i) involving a sexual offence; or 11
(ii) committed by a person who was in a position of 12
power, influence or trust in relation to the primary 13
victim when the act was committed; or 14
Examples of persons who may be in a position of power, 15
influence or trust in relation to a person-- 16
a person's parent, spouse or carer 17
(b) a primary victim of an act of violence who-- 18
(i) was a child when the act was committed; or 19
(ii) has an impaired capacity, whether or not it existed 20
when the act was committed; or 21
(c) a primary victim of an act of violence who is being 22
threatened or intimidated by the person who committed 23
the act, or by someone else. 24
82 No grant if reasonable assistance not given 25
(1) The government assessor can not grant assistance to a person 26
if the government assessor is satisfied, on the balance of 27
probabilities-- 28
(a) the person has not given reasonable assistance in-- 29
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(i) the police investigation of the act of violence in 1
relation to which assistance is sought; or 2
(ii) the arrest or prosecution of the person who 3
committed, or allegedly committed, the act of 4
violence in relation to which assistance is sought; 5
and 6
(b) the failure has prevented the arrest or prosecution of the 7
person who committed, or allegedly committed, the act 8
of violence. 9
(2) Subsection (1) does not apply if the government assessor is 10
reasonably satisfied the person had a reasonable excuse for 11
not providing the assistance. 12
(3) For subsection (2), in considering whether the person had a 13
reasonable excuse for not providing the assistance, the 14
government assessor must have regard to the following-- 15
(a) the person's age when the act was committed; 16
(b) whether the person has an impaired capacity, whether or 17
not it existed when the act was committed; 18
(c) if the person is the primary victim of the act of 19
violence--whether the act of violence involves a sexual 20
offence; 21
(d) whether the person who allegedly committed the act of 22
violence is in a position of power, influence or trust in 23
relation to the person; 24
Examples of persons who may be in a position of power, influence 25
or trust in relation to a person-- 26
the person's parent, spouse or carer 27
(e) whether the person was threatened or intimidated by the 28
person who committed, or allegedly committed, the act 29
or violence or by someone else; 30
(f) the nature of the person's injury or alleged injury; 31
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(g) whether any other special circumstances prevented the 1
person from providing the assistance; 2
(h) any other matter the assessor considers relevant. 3
Division 4 Other general provisions about 4
considering applications 5
83 Dealing with application if applicant has earlier 6
application 7
(1) This section applies if an applicant for assistance has made an 8
earlier application for assistance for the same act of violence. 9
(2) The government assessor must refuse the later application. 10
(3) However, if the earlier application has not been decided, the 11
government assessor may act under subsection (2) only if-- 12
(a) the applicant has been invited to withdraw the earlier 13
application under section 59 within a stated period of at 14
least 7 days; and 15
(b) the applicant has not withdrawn the earlier application 16
within the stated time. 17
Note-- 18
See also section 60 for amendments of applications. 19
(4) Also, if the earlier application has not been decided and the 20
government assessor considers the applications relate to a 21
series of related crimes, the government assessor-- 22
(a) must not refuse the later application under subsection 23
(2); and 24
(b) must refer the earlier and later applications to the 25
scheme manager to be dealt with under section 70. 26
Note-- 27
Section 70 provides for deciding 2 or more applications for a 28
series of related crimes as 1 application for a single act of 29
violence involving the series. 30
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(5) Subsection (2) does not apply-- 1
(a) if 1 of the applications is an application for victim 2
assistance and the other application is for funeral 3
expense assistance; or 4
(b) to an application by a witness secondary victim of a 5
more serious act of violence that is only for assistance 6
for loss of earnings, if-- 7
(i) under section 71(5), the application has been 8
separated from the application for other assistance 9
relating to the act; and 10
(ii) the earlier application is for assistance other than 11
for loss of earnings. 12
84 Deferring decision if applicant is detained 13
(1) This section applies if the applicant for assistance is being 14
detained in a correctional services facility under the 15
Corrective Services Act 2006. 16
(2) The government assessor can not decide the application until 17
the applicant is released or discharged under the Corrective 18
Services Act 2006. 19
(3) However, if under subsection (2) the application is not 20
decided within 5 years after it was made, the government 21
assessor must, despite that subsection, decide the application 22
as soon as reasonably practicable. 23
Division 5 Working out amount of assistance 24
85 Deciding amount of assistance generally 25
(1) This section applies for deciding the amount of assistance (if 26
any) to be granted to an applicant. 27
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(2) In deciding the amount, the government assessor may have 1
regard to, and may reduce the amount that would otherwise be 2
payable to the applicant on the basis of, the following-- 3
(a) the extent to which the applicant's conduct directly or 4
indirectly contributed to the injury suffered by the 5
applicant as a direct result of the act of violence in 6
relation to which assistance is sought; 7
(b) if the applicant is a related victim-- 8
(i) the amount the applicant, or other related victims 9
of the act of violence, expected to receive from the 10
primary victim but for the primary victim's death; 11
and 12
(ii) the financial resources (including earning capacity) 13
and financial needs of the applicant and other 14
related victims of the act of violence; and 15
(iii) if the applicant is seeking assistance on the basis of 16
being a family member of the primary victim, the 17
nature of the relationship between the applicant 18
and the primary victim, including, for example, 19
whether the applicant was a dependant of the 20
primary victim; 21
(c) any other matter prescribed under a regulation for this 22
section. 23
(3) If there are 2 or more secondary victims of an act of violence 24
to whom an assistance limit applies, the government assessor 25
must decide the proportion of the assistance limit that is 26
granted to each victim having regard to the following 27
principles-- 28
(a) an equal distribution of the assistance limit is to be 29
achieved to the greatest practicable extent; 30
(b) appropriate regard must be given to a victim for whom 31
exceptional circumstances exist. 32
(4) If there are 2 or more related victims of an act of violence, the 33
government assessor must decide the proportions of the 34
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assistance limits that are granted to each victim on the basis of 1
their relative needs. 2
(5) A question of fact for deciding the matter mentioned in 3
subsection (2)(a), or for deciding the category of the act of 4
violence in relation to which special assistance is sought, must 5
be decided on the balance of probabilities. 6
(6) The government assessor may be satisfied on the balance of 7
probabilities that an act of violence of a particular category 8
has caused a person's injury even though-- 9
(a) no person has been charged with, or convicted of, an act 10
of violence of that category in relation to the injury; or 11
(b) a person has been charged with, or convicted of, an act 12
of violence of a different category in relation to the 13
injury. 14
(7) If a regulation prescribes a matter for subsection (1)(c), the 15
government assessor may reduce the amount of assistance that 16
would otherwise be payable to a person on the basis of the 17
matter only if the person's application for assistance is made 18
after the matter is prescribed. 19
86 Reduction if relevant payment received 20
(1) This section applies if the government assessor is reasonably 21
satisfied an applicant for assistance in relation to an act of 22
violence has received, or will receive, a relevant payment for 23
the act. 24
(2) The government assessor must reduce the amount of 25
assistance that would otherwise be payable to the applicant by 26
an amount equivalent to the relevant payment. 27
(3) If the assistance payable to an applicant is reduced under 28
subsection (2) and an amount of assistance remains payable to 29
the applicant after the reduction, the government assessor 30
must-- 31
(a) decide the component of assistance for which the 32
amount is payable, having regard to-- 33
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(i) the applicant's needs; and 1
(ii) whether the applicant has incurred any expenses; 2
and 3
(iii) anything else the government assessor considers 4
relevant; and 5
(b) give the applicant a notice stating-- 6
(i) the decision; and 7
(ii) the reasons for the decision; and 8
Note-- 9
See the Acts Interpretation Act 1954, section 27B (Content 10
of statement of reasons for decision). 11
(iii) the internal review details for the decision. 12
87 Deferring decision if victim's conduct may be relevant 13
(1) This section applies if-- 14
(a) a person (applicant) has applied for assistance in 15
relation to an act of violence; and 16
(b) a person (charged person) has been charged with an 17
offence that the government assessor reasonably 18
considers is a relevant offence for the act; and 19
(c) the government assessor reasonably believes that, in 20
relation to the charge, a justification, excuse or defence 21
involving the applicant's conduct may be raised. 22
(2) The government assessor may defer deciding the amount of 23
assistance to be granted to the applicant until 1 of the 24
following happens-- 25
(a) the prosecuting agency decides not to continue with the 26
charge; 27
(b) there is a mistrial for the charge; 28
(c) the charged person is acquitted or convicted of the 29
charge; 30
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(d) the prosecution process for the charge ends in another 1
way. 2
(3) If a trial is started in relation to the charge and evidence given 3
at the trial raises a justification, excuse or defence involving 4
the applicant's conduct, the government assessor must, in 5
deciding the matter mentioned in section 85(2)(a), have regard 6
to the evidence. 7
(4) Subsection (3) applies only to the extent the government 8
assessor has lawful access to the evidence. 9
(5) If the government assessor decides to defer deciding the 10
amount of assistance under this section, the government 11
assessor must give the applicant a notice stating the 12
following-- 13
(a) the decision; 14
(b) the reasons for the decision; 15
Note-- 16
See the Acts Interpretation Act 1954, section 27B (Content of 17
statement of reasons for decision). 18
(c) the internal review details for the decision. 19
Part 13 Granting or refusing assistance 20
Division 1 Deciding application 21
88 Inviting submissions from applicant 22
(1) This section applies if-- 23
(a) under part 12, division 3, the government assessor 24
proposes to refuse an application for assistance; or 25
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(b) under part 12, division 5, the government assessor 1
proposes to reduce the assistance that would otherwise 2
be payable to an applicant. 3
(2) The government assessor must give the applicant a notice-- 4
(a) stating-- 5
(i) the basis on which the government assessor is 6
proposing to refuse the application or reduce the 7
assistance that would otherwise be payable to the 8
applicant; and 9
(ii) if the government assessor is proposing to reduce 10
the assistance that would otherwise be payable to 11
the applicant under section 86(2)--the component 12
of assistance for which the government assessor is 13
proposing to pay any remaining amount of 14
assistance payable to the applicant; and 15
(b) inviting the applicant to make, within a stated time, an 16
oral or written submission about the matter mentioned 17
in paragraph (a). 18
(3) The stated time must be reasonable and, in any case, at least 19
28 days after the government assessor gives the notice to the 20
applicant. 21
(4) Before deciding the application, the government assessor 22
must consider any submission made by the applicant within 23
the stated time. 24
89 Deciding application 25
After considering an application for assistance, and any 26
information or documents obtained under this chapter for the 27
application, the government assessor must decide-- 28
(a) to grant the applicant assistance as worked out under 29
this chapter, with or without conditions; or 30
(b) to refuse the application. 31
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90 Notice of decision to grant assistance 1
If the government assessor decides to grant assistance, the 2
government assessor must give the applicant a notice stating 3
the following-- 4
(a) any amount payable to the applicant, including-- 5
(i) the total amount payable to the applicant; and 6
(ii) the amount payable for each component of 7
assistance; 8
(b) if the assessor has imposed conditions on the grant of 9
assistance--the conditions; 10
(c) the reasons for the decision, including the imposition of 11
any conditions; 12
Note-- 13
See the Acts Interpretation Act 1954, section 27B (Content of 14
statement of reasons for decision). 15
(d) the internal review details for the decision; 16
(e) for a victim of an act of violence who has been granted a 17
proportion of an assistance limit-- 18
(i) the proportion of the assistance limit that has been 19
granted to other victims of the act (without 20
including identifying particulars of the other 21
victims); and 22
(ii) that, under section 136, the applicant may be able 23
to obtain-- 24
(A) the identifying particulars of each other 25
victim to whom a proportion of the 26
assistance limit has been granted; and 27
(B) reasons for the decision about the proportion 28
of the assistance limit granted to each other 29
victim. 30
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91 Notice of decision to refuse assistance 1
If the government assessor's decision is to refuse an 2
application for assistance, the government assessor must give 3
the applicant a notice stating the following-- 4
(a) the decision; 5
(b) the reasons for the decision; 6
Note-- 7
See the Acts Interpretation Act 1954, section 27B (Content of 8
statement of reasons for decision). 9
(c) the internal review details for the decision. 10
Division 2 Paying assistance 11
92 Application of div 2 12
This division applies if an applicant is granted assistance. 13
93 Paying assistance generally 14
(1) The assistance may be paid-- 15
(a) entirely to the applicant; or 16
(b) partly to the applicant and partly to someone else for the 17
benefit of the applicant; or 18
(c) entirely to someone else for the benefit of the applicant. 19
Example of person to whom assistance may be paid for the benefit of the 20
applicant-- 21
a counsellor as payment for a stated number of counselling sessions 22
(2) If the applicant is granted assistance for expenses, the 23
assistance does not become payable until the government 24
assessor receives a copy of an invoice or receipt for the 25
expenses. 26
(3) This section is subject to sections 94 and 95. 27
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94 Paying assistance to someone else 1
(1) Assistance may be paid, entirely or partly, to someone else for 2
the benefit of the applicant if-- 3
(a) the assistance is for unpaid expenses and the assistance 4
is paid to the person who gave the invoice for the 5
expenses; or 6
(b) the assistance is for expenses paid by a person other than 7
the applicant and the assistance is paid to the person 8
who paid the expenses; or 9
(c) the applicant is a child, and the assistance is lump sum 10
assistance and is paid to the public trustee to be held on 11
trust under the Public Trustee Act 1978; or 12
(d) the applicant is an adult with an impaired capacity for a 13
prescribed financial matter who has an administrator for 14
the matter, and the assistance is lump sum assistance and 15
is paid to the administrator; or 16
(e) the applicant is an adult with an impaired capacity for a 17
prescribed financial matter who does not have an 18
administrator for the matter but has appointed an 19
attorney for the matter under an enduring power of 20
attorney, and the assistance is lump sum assistance and 21
is paid to the attorney. 22
(2) In this section-- 23
lump sum assistance means-- 24
(a) special assistance; or 25
(b) assistance for loss of earnings; or 26
(c) assistance as mentioned in section 49(1)(e) or (f). 27
prescribed financial matter means the financial matter of 28
receiving lump sum assistance. 29
unpaid expenses means expenses for which an invoice has 30
been given but have not been paid. 31
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95 Paying assistance if applicant liable to pay amount to 1
State 2
(1) If the applicant is liable to pay an amount (payable amount) 3
to the State under a recovery provision because of an offence 4
committed by the applicant-- 5
(a) the assistance granted to the applicant or, if the 6
assistance is greater than the payable amount, the part of 7
the assistance equivalent to the payable amount, is to be 8
retained by the State; and 9
(b) the amount retained under paragraph (a) must be applied 10
towards satisfying the applicant's liability to the State 11
under the recovery provision and, for that purpose, is 12
taken to have been paid to the State by the applicant. 13
(2) If, after assistance is granted to the applicant, the applicant 14
becomes liable to pay an amount to the State under a recovery 15
provision because of an offence committed by the applicant, 16
subsection (1)(a) and (b) apply in relation to any part of the 17
assistance not already paid to the applicant. 18
(3) If the assistance payable to an applicant is reduced under 19
subsection (1) or (2) and an amount of assistance remains 20
payable to the applicant after the reduction, the government 21
assessor must-- 22
(a) decide the component of assistance for which the 23
amount is payable, having regard to-- 24
(i) the applicant's needs; and 25
(ii) whether the applicant has incurred any expenses; 26
and 27
(iii) anything else the government assessor considers 28
relevant; and 29
(b) give the applicant a notice stating-- 30
(i) the decision; and 31
(ii) the reasons for the decision; and 32
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Note-- 1
See the Acts Interpretation Act 1954, section 27B (Content 2
of statement of reasons for decision). 3
(iii) the internal review details for the decision. 4
(4) The scheme manager must give notice to the SPER registrar 5
of any amount taken to have been paid by the applicant to the 6
State under subsection (1)(b) or (2). 7
(5) In this section-- 8
recovery provision means section 117(4) or 191(4). 9
96 Unpaid assistance 10
If, because of the acts or omissions of the applicant, all or a 11
part of the assistance granted to the applicant is not paid to, or 12
for the benefit of the applicant, within 6 years after the 13
assistance is granted, the assistance or part stops being 14
payable to the applicant. 15
Example-- 16
If the assistance granted to the applicant included amounts for 10 17
counselling sessions and the applicant only attends 8 counselling 18
sessions within 6 years after the assistance is granted, the part of the 19
assistance payable for the 2 remaining counselling sessions stops being 20
payable. 21
Part 14 Interim assistance 22
97 Application of pt 14 23
This part applies if-- 24
(a) under part 9 or 10, a person applies for assistance in 25
relation to an act of violence (general application); and 26
(b) the government assessor has not decided the general 27
application; and 28
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(c) the person incurs, or is reasonably likely to incur, 1
expenses of a kind for which the person may be eligible 2
for assistance; and 3
(d) in the general application, the person also applies for 4
interim assistance under this part in relation to the act of 5
violence. 6
98 Deciding application for interim assistance 7
(1) The government assessor may grant the person assistance of 8
up to $6000 (interim assistance) for the expenses incurred, or 9
reasonably likely to be incurred, by the person if the assessor 10
is reasonably satisfied it is necessary for the person to incur 11
the expenses before the general application is decided. 12
(2) The government assessor may impose conditions on the grant 13
of interim assistance. 14
(3) Section 88 does not apply to deciding an application for 15
interim assistance. 16
99 Steps after application for interim assistance decided 17
(1) The government assessor must give the person a notice for the 18
decision on the application for interim assistance stating-- 19
(a) if the decision is to grant interim assistance-- 20
(i) the amount payable to the applicant, and the 21
conditions (if any) imposed; and 22
(ii) the reasons for the decision; and 23
Note-- 24
See the Acts Interpretation Act 1954, section 27B (Content 25
of statement of reasons for decision). 26
(iii) the internal review details for the decision; or 27
(b) if the decision is to refuse to grant interim assistance-- 28
(i) the decision; and 29
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(ii) the reasons for the decision; and 1
Note-- 2
See the Acts Interpretation Act 1954, section 27B (Content 3
of statement of reasons for decision). 4
(iii) the internal review details for the decision. 5
(2) Part 13, division 2 applies to interim assistance in the same 6
way it applies to other assistance. 7
Editor's note-- 8
part 13, division 2 (Paying assistance) 9
100 Effect of decision on general application 10
(1) If the government assessor decides to grant the person 11
assistance under the general application-- 12
(a) the amount paid in interim assistance must be deducted 13
from the assistance otherwise payable to the person; and 14
(b) if the amount paid in interim assistance is more than the 15
assistance payable in relation to the general 16
application--the person must refund the excess amount 17
paid to the State. 18
(2) If the government assessor refuses the person's general 19
application for assistance, the person must refund the amount 20
paid in interim assistance to the State. 21
(3) An amount that is refundable under this section is a debt owed 22
to the State by the person. 23
Part 15 Amendment of grants 24
101 Application for amendment 25
(1) This section applies if-- 26
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(a) a person has been granted assistance; and 1
(b) the person's circumstances have changed or are likely to 2
change. 3
(2) The person may apply to the scheme manager for an 4
amendment of the grant to-- 5
(a) change the amount of assistance granted; or 6
(b) change the conditions imposed on the grant. 7
(3) An application for amendment of the grant of assistance must 8
be made-- 9
(a) if the assistance was granted to an adult--within 6 years 10
after the assistance was granted; or 11
(b) if the assistance was granted to a child--before the child 12
turns 24. 13
(4) The application must state the person's circumstances that 14
have changed or are likely to change. 15
(5) Only 1 application for amendment of the grant of assistance 16
may be made under this section in a calendar year. 17
(6) Subsection (5) does not apply if the scheme manager is 18
reasonably satisfied that exceptional circumstances exist to 19
allow more than 1 application to be made in a calendar year. 20
102 Person who is to decide application 21
If an application for amendment of the grant of assistance is 22
made to the scheme manager under section 101, the scheme 23
manager may-- 24
(a) decide the application; or 25
(b) ask the government assessor who granted the assistance, 26
or another government assessor, to decide the 27
application. 28
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103 Considering application 1
(1) The person deciding an application for amendment of the 2
grant of assistance under this part may have regard to-- 3
(a) the change or likely change in the applicant's 4
circumstances for which the application is made; and 5
(b) any other changes in the applicant's circumstances that 6
may be relevant; and 7
(c) any fresh evidence that has become available since the 8
assistance was granted or since the grant was last 9
amended under this part or section 36; and 10
(d) any relevant payments for the act of violence in relation 11
to which the assistance was granted that have been 12
received by, or that have become payable to, the 13
applicant since the assistance was granted or since the 14
grant was last amended under this part or section 36; 15
and 16
(e) any other matter the person considers relevant. 17
(2) Sections 63, 64, 73, 74 and 77 and part 12, division 5 apply in 18
relation to the amendment application in the same way as they 19
apply in relation to the original application for assistance. 20
Editor's note-- 21
sections 63 (General principles), 64 (Further information, document or 22
consent), 73 (Examinations), 74 (Obtaining medical information from 23
designated person) and 77 (Obtaining information about relevant 24
payments) and part 12, division 5 (Working out amount of assistance) 25
104 Decision on application 26
(1) The person deciding an application for amendment of the 27
grant of assistance under this part may-- 28
(a) change the amount of assistance granted, by increasing 29
or decreasing the amount; or 30
(b) change the conditions imposed on the grant, including, 31
by imposing new conditions on the grant. 32
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(2) However, the person may decrease the amount of assistance 1
granted only if-- 2
(a) the applicant has asked for the decrease; or 3
(b) the decrease relates to unpaid assistance for expenses 4
reasonably likely to be incurred, and the expenses have 5
not been incurred and are not reasonably likely to be 6
incurred; or 7
(c) the decrease relates to unpaid assistance for loss of 8
earnings and, as a result of a change in the applicant's 9
circumstances, the applicant's loss of earnings is lower 10
than the loss of earnings that formed the basis on which 11
the unpaid assistance was granted. 12
Example of a change in circumstances for paragraph (c)-- 13
The applicant returns to work earlier than expected. 14
(3) The person may increase the amount of assistance granted 15
only up to the remaining pool amount (if any) for the act of 16
violence. 17
(4) In this section-- 18
unpaid assistance means assistance that has been granted but 19
not paid. 20
105 Steps after application decided 21
(1) The person who decides an application for amendment of a 22
grant of assistance under this part must give the applicant 23
notice of the person's decision on the application. 24
(2) If the decision is to refuse the application, or to amend the 25
grant of assistance in a way other than sought by the applicant, 26
the notice must state the following-- 27
(a) the decision; 28
(b) the reasons for the decision; 29
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Note-- 1
See the Acts Interpretation Act 1954, section 27B (Content of 2
statement of reasons for decision). 3
(c) the internal review details for the decision. 4
(3) Part 13, division 2 applies to an increase in assistance granted 5
under section 104 in the same way as it applies to the original 6
grant of assistance. 7
Editor's note-- 8
part 13, division 2 (Paying assistance) 9
106 Amendment of assistance if uncounted relevant payment 10
received 11
(1) This section applies if-- 12
(a) a person is granted assistance; and 13
(b) the person receives, for the act of violence in relation to 14
which assistance is granted, a relevant payment 15
(uncounted relevant payment) that-- 16
(i) was not taken into account by the government 17
assessor when the assistance was granted; and 18
(ii) would have resulted in a reduction of assistance 19
granted to the person under section 86 if it had 20
been taken into account by the government 21
assessor when the assistance was granted. 22
(2) The government assessor must, by notice to the person, amend 23
the amount of assistance granted to reduce it to the amount 24
that would have been granted under section 86 if the 25
government assessor had taken the uncounted relevant 26
payment into account when the assistance was granted. 27
(3) If the assistance payable to a person is reduced under 28
subsection (2) and an amount of assistance remains payable to 29
the person after the reduction, the government assessor must 30
decide the component of assistance for which the amount is 31
payable, having regard to-- 32
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(a) the person's needs; and 1
(b) whether the person has incurred any expenses; and 2
(c) anything else the government assessor considers 3
relevant. 4
(4) The notice given under subsection (2) must state the 5
following-- 6
(a) the government assessor's decisions under subsection 7
(2) and (3); 8
(b) the reasons for the decisions; 9
Note-- 10
See the Acts Interpretation Act 1954, section 27B (Content of 11
statement of reasons for decision). 12
(c) the internal review details for the decisions. 13
(5) The person must refund to the State the amount of assistance 14
paid to the person in excess of the amount of assistance 15
granted following the amendment. 16
(6) An amount refundable under this section is a debt owed to the 17
State by the person. 18
Part 16 Recovering assistance from 19
offender 20
107 Purpose of pt 16 21
This part helps the State to recover assistance granted for an 22
act of violence from a person who is convicted of a relevant 23
offence for the act. 24
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108 References to assistance granted for an act of violence 1
In this part, a reference to assistance granted for an act of 2
violence is a reference to assistance granted as victim 3
assistance, or funeral expense assistance, in relation to the act. 4
109 Recovery available only for assistance that is paid 5
The State may, under this part, recover assistance, or a part of 6
assistance, granted for an act of violence from a person who is 7
convicted of a relevant offence for the act only if the 8
assistance or part has been paid to a person under part 13, 9
division 2. 10
Note-- 11
See section 118 for the reduction in a person's liability to pay an amount 12
to the State if the amount of assistance in relation to which the liability 13
accrued is reduced after it is granted. See also section 117(5). 14
110 Recovery available only after appeal rights exhausted 15
The State may, under this part, recover assistance granted for 16
an act of violence from a person who is convicted of a relevant 17
offence for the act only if-- 18
(a) if the convicted person has appealed the conviction--the 19
appeal is decided and the conviction is upheld; or 20
(b) otherwise--the period within which the person may 21
appeal the conviction has passed. 22
111 Recovery limited to category of act of violence for which 23
assistance granted 24
(1) This section applies if-- 25
(a) a person was granted special assistance for an act of 26
violence; and 27
(b) a person is convicted of a relevant offence for the act of 28
violence; and 29
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(c) the conviction is for an offence involving an act of 1
violence of a category that is lower than the category for 2
which special assistance was granted. 3
Note-- 4
See schedule 2, section 4 for the order of categories of acts of 5
violence. 6
(2) For the special assistance granted to the person mentioned in 7
subsection (1)(a), the State may, under this part, recover from 8
the convicted person only an amount up to the maximum 9
amount stated in schedule 2, section 2 for the category of the 10
act of violence involved in the offence. 11
Example-- 12
A person is granted $5000 as special assistance for an act of violence on 13
the basis the act is attempted murder, which is a category A act of 14
violence. A person is convicted of the offence of causing grievous 15
bodily harm arising out of substantially the same facts and 16
circumstances as those constituting the act, which is a category B act of 17
violence. The State may recover from the convicted person up to $3500, 18
which is the maximum amount stated in schedule 2, section 2 for a 19
category B act of violence. 20
(3) To remove any doubt, it is declared that subsection (2) does 21
not affect the amount of assistance other than special 22
assistance granted to the person mentioned in paragraph (a) 23
that the State may, under this part, recover from the convicted 24
person. 25
112 Recovery from multiple offenders 26
(1) This section applies if 2 or more persons are convicted of a 27
relevant offence for the act of violence for which assistance is 28
granted. 29
(2) The total amount the State may, under this part, recover from 30
the convicted persons must be divided equally between them, 31
and each convicted person is liable to pay no more than that 32
person's share of the total amount. 33
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Example-- 1
A person is granted assistance of $60000 for an act of violence. Three 2
persons are convicted of a relevant offence for the act. The State may 3
recover only up to $20000 from each convicted person. 4
113 Using information obtained for application 5
The scheme manager may use information obtained under 6
section 65, 66 or 67 for the following purposes-- 7
(a) the State recovering an amount from a person under this 8
part; 9
(b) obtaining information from a court under section 114. 10
114 Obtaining information from court 11
(1) The scheme manager may, for the purpose of the State 12
recovering an amount from a person under this part, ask the 13
registrar of a court-- 14
(a) to confirm whether a stated person has been convicted 15
of a relevant offence for a stated act of violence for 16
which assistance has been granted; or 17
(b) for a stated person who has been convicted of a relevant 18
offence for an act of violence for which assistance has 19
been granted--for information about-- 20
(i) the offence; and 21
(ii) the sentence imposed on the person, including, 22
whether the sentencing court made, under the 23
Penalties and Sentences Act 1992, section 35(1), 24
an order requiring the person to pay someone else 25
an amount by way of restitution or compensation; 26
or 27
(c) the identifying particulars for a stated person, 28
including-- 29
(i) the person's full name, date of birth and gender; 30
and 31
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(ii) the person's address or, if the person has been 1
sentenced to a period of imprisonment, the place at 2
which the person is being detained for the period. 3
(2) The registrar must give the requested information to the 4
scheme manager if the registrar is satisfied the information 5
will help the State to recover an amount under this part. 6
(3) The registrar may give the requested information by allowing 7
the scheme manager to access an electronic database 8
maintained for the court. 9
(4) If the registrar gives the scheme manager access to an 10
electronic database as mentioned in subsection (3), the access 11
to, and the use of, the database is limited to the extent it is 12
connected with the requested information. 13
(5) The scheme manager may use information lawfully obtained 14
under this section for recovering an amount under this part. 15
Note-- 16
See section 140 for restrictions on disclosing or giving access to 17
information or documents obtained under this Act. 18
(6) In this section-- 19
registrar, in relation to a Magistrates Court, means the clerk 20
of that court. 21
115 Notice of intended recovery 22
Before the State may, under this part, recover from a person 23
all or a part of the assistance granted to someone else, the 24
scheme manager must give the person a notice stating-- 25
(a) the date on which the assistance was granted; and 26
(b) the amount of the assistance granted and the conditions 27
(if any) imposed on the grant; and 28
(c) the act of violence for which the assistance was granted; 29
and 30
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(d) whether the assistance was granted to a primary victim, 1
secondary victim or related victim of the act of violence; 2
and 3
(e) the offence of which the person has been convicted that 4
the scheme manager claims is a relevant offence for the 5
act of violence for which the assistance was granted; and 6
(f) the amount of the assistance, or the part of the 7
assistance, the State seeks to recover from the person 8
under this part; and 9
(g) that the person may-- 10
(i) within 14 days after being given the notice, dispute 11
a claim mentioned in paragraph (e) by giving the 12
scheme manager notice of the dispute; and 13
(ii) if the person does not agree with the scheme 14
manager's decision given after considering the 15
notice of the dispute--apply to QCAT for a review 16
of the scheme manager's decision; and 17
(h) that when the question of whether the offence of which 18
the person has been convicted is a relevant offence for 19
the act of violence for which the assistance was granted 20
is no longer in dispute, the person is liable to pay the 21
amount mentioned in paragraph (f) to the State under 22
section 117(4); and 23
(i) anything else prescribed under a regulation. 24
116 Disputing claim that conviction relates to act of violence 25
(1) This section applies if a person who is given a notice under 26
section 115 disputes the claim mentioned in the notice that the 27
offence of which the person has been convicted is a relevant 28
offence for the act of violence for which the assistance was 29
granted. 30
(2) The person may, within 14 days of being given the notice, 31
give notice of the dispute (the dispute notice) to the scheme 32
manager. 33
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(3) The dispute notice must state the facts relied on by the person 1
to dispute the claim. 2
(4) After considering the dispute notice, the scheme manager 3
must decide whether the offence is a relevant offence for the 4
act of violence for which the assistance was granted. 5
(5) The scheme manager must give the person notice of the 6
scheme manager's decision. 7
(6) If the scheme manager's decision is that the offence is a 8
relevant offence for the act of violence for which the 9
assistance was granted, the notice given under subsection (5) 10
must be a QCAT information notice. 11
(7) The person may apply, as provided under the QCAT Act, to 12
QCAT for a review of the scheme manager's decision. 13
117 Offender's liability to pay generally 14
(1) This section applies if-- 15
(a) the scheme manager has given a person a notice under 16
section 115 (the recovery notice); and 17
(b) the question of whether the offence of which the person 18
has been convicted is a relevant offence for the act of 19
violence for which the assistance was granted is no 20
longer in dispute. 21
(2) For subsection (1)(b), the question is no longer in dispute if-- 22
(a) the person has not, for the offence, given the scheme 23
manager a dispute notice under section 116(2) within 14 24
days after the scheme manager gave the person the 25
recovery notice; or 26
(b) the person has, for the offence, given the scheme 27
manager a dispute notice under section 116(2) within 14 28
days after the scheme manager gave the person the 29
recovery notice and-- 30
(i) the consideration of the dispute mentioned in the 31
dispute notice has been finally decided by the 32
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scheme manager under section 116(4), by QCAT 1
on any review of the scheme manager's decision or 2
by another entity on any appeal against QCAT's 3
decision; and 4
(ii) the result of the consideration is that the offence of 5
which the person has been convicted is a relevant 6
offence for the act of violence for which the 7
assistance was granted. 8
(3) The scheme manager must give the person a notice stating-- 9
(a) the amount (payable amount) the State seeks to recover 10
from the person under this part; and 11
(b) that under subsection (4), the person is liable to pay the 12
stated amount to the State within a stated period of at 13
least 28 days (the payment period); and 14
(c) that if the person does not pay the stated amount within 15
the stated period, the scheme manager may give 16
particulars of the amount to the SPER registrar for 17
registration under that Act. 18
(4) The person is liable to pay the State the payable amount 19
within the payment period. 20
Note-- 21
See section 95 for the application of assistance granted to a person 22
towards satisfying the person's liability to pay under subsection (4). 23
(5) For subsection (3)(a), the amount must be-- 24
(a) the amount mentioned in the recovery notice as the 25
amount the State seeks to recover from the person under 26
this part; or 27
(b) if, after the recovery notice was given to the person, the 28
amount of assistance granted to a person for the act of 29
violence is, under this chapter, reduced to an amount 30
that is lower than the amount mentioned in paragraph 31
(b)--the lower amount. 32
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118 Reduction in offender's liability to pay if assistance 1
refunded 2
(1) This section applies if-- 3
(a) in relation to assistance granted to a person (the victim) 4
for an act of violence, a person (offender) convicted of a 5
relevant offence for the act becomes liable to pay an 6
amount (payable amount) to the State under section 7
117(4); and 8
(b) the amount of assistance granted to the victim is, under 9
this chapter, reduced to an amount (the new amount) 10
that is less than the payable amount. 11
(2) The offender's liability under section 117(4) is reduced to the 12
new amount. 13
(3) The scheme manager must give the offender a notice stating 14
the new amount and the effect of subsection (2). 15
(4) If the offender has already paid the State an amount more than 16
the new amount, the difference (excess amount) between the 17
amount already paid and the new amount must be refunded to 18
the offender. 19
(5) However, if under section 95 an amount of assistance granted 20
to the offender (offset amount) was taken to be paid to the 21
State for satisfying the offender's liability under section 22
117(4), the following applies-- 23
(a) if paragraph (b) does not apply--the excess amount 24
must be paid to the offender as assistance; 25
(b) if the excess amount is more than the offset 26
amount--the part of the excess amount equivalent to the 27
offset amount. 28
Example-- 29
The victim is paid assistance of $10000. The offender becomes liable to 30
pay $10000 to the State under section 117(4). The offender is granted 31
assistance of $5000 but it is taken, under section 95, to be paid to the 32
State for satisfying the offender's liability under section 117(4) (which 33
is the offset amount). The offender also pays a further $4000 towards 34
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satisfying the offender's liability under section 117(4), bringing the total 1
payment to $9000. 2
The assistance granted to the victim is reduced to $3000. The offender's 3
liability to the State is also reduced to $3000 under subsection (2). The 4
excess amount is $6000, which is the difference between what the 5
offender has paid and the offender's new liability to the State. Because 6
the offender was taken, under section 95, to have paid $5000 to the State 7
for satisfying the offender's liability, $5000 must be paid to the offender 8
as assistance and the remaining $1000 of the excess amount is refunded 9
to the offender. 10
(6) If, under subsection (5), an amount is paid to the offender as 11
assistance, the government assessor must-- 12
(a) decide the component of assistance for which the 13
amount is payable, having regard to-- 14
(i) the components (if any) for which assistance 15
granted to the person was paid or payable under 16
section 95; and 17
(ii) the offender's needs; and 18
(iii) whether the offender has incurred any expenses for 19
which assistance has not already been paid or 20
become payable under section 95; and 21
(iv) anything else the government assessor considers 22
relevant; and 23
(b) give the offender a notice stating-- 24
(i) the decision; and 25
(ii) the reasons for the decision; and 26
Note-- 27
See the Acts Interpretation Act 1954, section 27B (Content 28
of statement of reasons for decision). 29
(iii) the internal review details for the decision. 30
119 Reduction in offender's liability to pay if amount received 31
under Corrective Services Act 2006 32
(1) This section applies if-- 33
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(a) a person (offender) becomes liable to pay an amount 1
(payable amount) to the State under section 117(4); and 2
(b) the chief executive is, under the Corrective Services Act 3
2006, paid an amount (the corrective services amount) 4
from the offender's prisoner's account, or victim trust 5
fund, under that Act. 6
Note-- 7
See the Corrective Services Act 2006, section 314 and the 8
Corrective Services Regulation 2006, section 44 (for payments 9
from prisoner's accounts) and the Corrective Services Act 2006, 10
chapter 6, part 12B, division 4 (for payments from victim trust 11
funds). 12
(2) The offender's liability under section 117(4) is reduced by the 13
corrective services amount. 14
(3) The scheme manager must give the offender a notice stating-- 15
(a) the effect of subsection (2); and 16
(b) the amount the offender is liable to pay after the 17
reduction under subsection (2). 18
(4) This section does not limit the Corrective Services Act 2006, 19
section 319ZD(4). 20
120 Registration of unpaid amount under State Penalties 21
Enforcement Act 1999 22
(1) If a person who is liable to pay an amount under section 23
117(4) fails to pay the amount, or pays only a part of the 24
amount, the scheme manager may give particulars of the 25
unpaid amount to the SPER registrar for registration under the 26
State Penalties Enforcement Act 1999, section 34 as if-- 27
(a) the notice given under section 117(3) were an order of a 28
court fining a person the amount stated in the notice; and 29
(b) the scheme manager were the registrar of that court; and 30
(c) the particulars were the prescribed particulars of the 31
unpaid amount of a fine imposed by that court. 32
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(2) The SPER registrar must register the particulars under the 1
State Penalties Enforcement Act 1999, section 34 and for that 2
purpose that Act applies with all necessary and convenient 3
changes. 4
(3) The fine option order provisions and imprisonment provisions 5
do not apply in relation to an amount payable under section 6
117(4). 7
(4) For this section, the person who is liable to pay an amount 8
under section 117(4) fails to pay the amount if-- 9
(a) the scheme manager gives the person a notice under 10
section 117(3) about the amount; and 11
(b) the person fails to pay the amount within the period 12
stated in the notice, or a longer period agreed to by the 13
scheme manager. 14
(5) If the person's liability to pay an amount under section 117(4) 15
is reduced under section 118 or 119-- 16
(a) the scheme manager must give the SPER registrar notice 17
of the reduction; and 18
(b) the SPER registrar must amend the particulars registered 19
under the State Penalties Enforcement Act 1999, section 20
34 to reflect the reduction. 21
(6) In this section-- 22
fine option order provisions means the State Penalties 23
Enforcement Act 1999, section 41(c) and the other provisions 24
of that Act relating to fine option orders. 25
imprisonment provisions means the following-- 26
(a) the State Penalties Enforcement Act 1999, section 52 to 27
the extent it applies to an arrest and imprisonment 28
warrant, and the other provisions of that Act relating to 29
arrest and imprisonment warrants; 30
(b) the State Penalties Enforcement Act 1999, part 6. 31
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Part 17 Effect of conviction for fraud offence relating to application
[s 121]
Part 17 Effect of conviction for fraud 1
offence relating to application 2
121 Application of pt 17 3
This part applies if a person is, in relation to the person's 4
application for assistance, convicted of an offence against-- 5
(a) section 141(1) or (2); or 6
(b) the Criminal Code, section 408C(1)(d) or 488. 7
Editor's notes-- 8
· section 141 (False or misleading information) 9
· Criminal Code, section 408C (Fraud) or 488 (Forgery and uttering) 10
122 Lapse of application if not decided 11
If the person's application has not been decided, the 12
application lapses. 13
123 Refund of paid assistance and unpaid assistance stops 14
being payable 15
(1) This section applies if-- 16
(a) the person has been granted assistance in relation to the 17
application; and 18
(b) in the prosecution of the person, the prosecuting agency 19
proves the assistance was granted on the basis of the 20
person's acts or omissions constituting the offence. 21
(2) The assistance is taken never to have been granted and the 22
person must refund to the State any amount of the assistance 23
paid to the person. 24
(3) An amount that is refundable under this section is a debt owed 25
to the State by the person. 26
(4) Any part of the amount of assistance not paid to the person 27
stops being payable to the person. 28
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[s 124]
Part 18 Internal and external review of 1
decision 2
124 Internal review of decision 3
(1) A person aggrieved by a decision identified in schedule 1 may 4
apply to the scheme manager for a review of the decision. 5
(2) An application for a review of the decision must-- 6
(a) be made within 28 days after the person is given notice 7
of the decision; and 8
(b) state in detail the basis on which the person is aggrieved 9
by the decision. 10
(3) The making of an application for a review of a decision under 11
this section does not affect the operation of the decision or 12
prevent the decision being implemented. 13
(4) The review must be conducted by-- 14
(a) for a decision of a government assessor-- 15
(i) the scheme manager; or 16
(ii) another government assessor nominated by the 17
scheme manager; or 18
(b) for a decision of the scheme manager--a departmental 19
employee, of a classification level in the public service 20
that is the same as or higher than the scheme manager's 21
classification level, nominated by the chief executive. 22
(5) If a review is conducted by a departmental employee under 23
subsection (4)(b), any decision on the review is taken to be a 24
decision of the scheme manager. 25
(6) The person conducting the review-- 26
(a) has, in reviewing the decision, the same powers as the 27
original decision-maker; and 28
(b) may-- 29
(i) confirm or amend the decision being reviewed; or 30
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Chapter 3 Victims financial assistance scheme
Part 18 Internal and external review of decision
[s 125]
(ii) substitute the person's own decision for the 1
decision being reviewed; and 2
(c) must give the applicant a QCAT information notice 3
about the person's decision. 4
(7) Without limiting subsection (6), the person conducting the 5
review may decide that assistance must be granted to a victim 6
of an act of violence, or the amount of assistance granted to a 7
victim of an act of violence must be increased, even if the 8
grant or increase will cause an assistance limit to be exceeded. 9
(8) An application for a review of a decision under this section 10
must be decided within 42 days after it is made. 11
125 External review of reviewed decision 12
(1) This section applies if a decision is confirmed, amended or 13
substituted on review under section 124 (the internal review 14
decision). 15
(2) The applicant may apply, as provided under the QCAT Act, to 16
QCAT for a review of the internal review decision. 17
Note-- 18
The QCAT Act, section 22(3) provides that QCAT may stay the 19
operation of the internal review decision, either on application by a 20
person or on its own initiative. 21
(3) Without limiting the decisions QCAT may make under the 22
QCAT Act, QCAT may decide that assistance must be granted 23
to a victim of an act of violence, or the amount of assistance 24
granted to a victim of an act of violence must be increased, 25
even if the grant or increase will cause an assistance limit to 26
be exceeded. 27
126 Effect of reducing amount of assistance 28
(1) This section applies if, following a review of a decision under 29
section 124 or 125, the amount of assistance granted to a 30
person is reduced. 31
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Part 19 Administration
[s 127]
(2) The person must refund to the State the amount of assistance 1
paid to the person in excess of the amount of assistance 2
granted following the review. 3
(3) An amount that is refundable under this section is a debt owed 4
to the State by the person. 5
Part 19 Administration 6
127 Scheme manager 7
(1) The chief executive must appoint, in writing, a manager of 8
victims assistance. 9
(2) A person is eligible for appointment as the manager of victims 10
assistance if the person is-- 11
(a) a public service employee; and 12
(b) appropriately qualified for the functions and powers of 13
the manager of victims assistance under this Act. 14
(3) The appointment of the scheme manager is subject to the 15
conditions stated in the document of appointment. 16
(4) The scheme manager stops being the scheme manager-- 17
(a) at the end of the term of appointment stated in the 18
document of appointment; or 19
(b) if the scheme manager stops being a public service 20
employee. 21
(5) The scheme manager may do all things necessary or 22
convenient to be done for the performance of the scheme 23
manager's functions under this Act. 24
(6) The scheme manager may perform all the functions and 25
exercise all the powers of a government assessor under this 26
Act. 27
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Part 19 Administration
[s 128]
(7) A reference to a government assessor in this Act includes a 1
reference to the scheme manager performing a function or 2
exercising a power of a government assessor under subsection 3
(6). 4
128 Government assessors 5
(1) As many government assessors as are required for the proper 6
administration of the scheme must be appointed. 7
(2) Government assessors are to be appointed by the chief 8
executive in writing. 9
(3) A person is eligible for appointment as a government assessor 10
if the person is-- 11
(a) a public service employee; and 12
(b) appropriately qualified for the functions and powers of 13
government assessors under this Act. 14
(4) The appointment of a government assessor is subject to the 15
conditions stated in the document of appointment. 16
(5) A government assessor stops being a government assessor-- 17
(a) at the end of the term of appointment stated in the 18
document of appointment; or 19
(b) if the assessor stops being a public service employee. 20
(6) A government assessor may do all things necessary or 21
convenient to be done for the performance of the government 22
assessor's functions under this Act. 23
129 Delegation by scheme manager 24
The scheme manager may delegate the scheme manager's 25
functions under this chapter to an appropriately qualified-- 26
(a) government assessor; or 27
(b) departmental employee. 28
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Part 19 Administration
[s 130]
130 Disclosure of interests 1
(1) This section applies if the scheme manager, a government 2
assessor or a departmental employee who is to perform a 3
function, or exercise a power, under this chapter in relation to 4
a particular application has or acquires an interest, financial or 5
otherwise, that may conflict with the proper performance of 6
the function or exercise of the power. 7
(2) The scheme manager must disclose the nature of the interest 8
to the chief executive. 9
(3) The government assessor must disclose the nature of the 10
interest to the scheme manager. 11
(4) The departmental employee must disclose the nature of the 12
interest to the chief executive. 13
(5) If-- 14
(a) a disclosure is made under subsection (2), the chief 15
executive must choose a departmental employee, of a 16
classification level in the public service that is the same 17
as or higher than the scheme manager's classification 18
level, to deal with the application; or 19
(b) a disclosure is made under subsection (3), the scheme 20
manager must choose another government assessor to 21
deal with the application; or 22
(c) a disclosure is made under subsection (4), the chief 23
executive must choose another departmental employee 24
to deal with the application. 25
(6) In this section-- 26
application means-- 27
(a) an application for assistance; or 28
(b) an application for amendment of assistance under 29
section 36 or 101; or 30
(c) an application for interim assistance under part 14; or 31
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Chapter 3 Victims financial assistance scheme
Part 20 Miscellaneous
[s 131]
(d) an application for the review of a decision under section 1
124. 2
Part 20 Miscellaneous 3
131 Guidelines 4
(1) The chief executive may make guidelines about-- 5
(a) the performance of a function or exercise of a power by 6
the scheme manager under this chapter; or 7
(b) the performance of a function or exercise of a power by 8
a government assessor under this chapter. 9
(2) The chief executive must-- 10
(a) publish the guidelines on the department's website; and 11
Editor's note-- 12
At the commencement of this section, the department's website 13
was at . 14
(b) keep a copy of the guidelines available for inspection by 15
the public at the main office of the victims assistance 16
unit during ordinary office hours on business days. 17
(3) A person may, without payment of a fee, obtain a copy of the 18
guidelines from the scheme manager. 19
(4) A person performing a function or exercising a power under 20
this chapter must have regard to the guidelines when 21
performing the function or exercising the power. 22
132 Table of costs 23
(1) The chief executive may approve a table (table of costs) 24
stating the costs the chief executive considers to be an 25
appropriate guide, for the time being, for deciding whether 26
costs are reasonable for the scheme. 27
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Victims of Crime Assistance Bill 2009
Chapter 3 Victims financial assistance scheme
Part 20 Miscellaneous
[s 133]
(2) The chief executive must-- 1
(a) publish the table of costs on the department's website; 2
and 3
Editor's note-- 4
At the commencement of this section, the department's website 5
was at . 6
(b) keep a copy of the table of costs available for inspection 7
by the public at the main office of the victims assistance 8
unit during ordinary office hours on business days. 9
(3) A person may, without payment of a fee, obtain a copy of the 10
table of costs from the scheme manager. 11
(4) In having regard to the table of costs, a person must give 12
proper weight to, but is not bound by, the table. 13
(5) In this section-- 14
costs means costs for counselling services, incidental travel, 15
medical treatment, ambulance services or obtaining a report 16
from a counsellor or health practitioner. 17
133 Giving information to corresponding scheme managers 18
(1) The scheme manager may give the following information to a 19
corresponding scheme manager if the corresponding scheme 20
manager asks for it-- 21
(a) whether a stated person has applied for financial 22
assistance under the scheme in relation to an act of 23
violence and, if so, details of-- 24
(i) the act of violence in relation to which the 25
application is made; and 26
(ii) the injury (if any) in relation to which the 27
application is made; 28
(b) the status of an application for financial assistance under 29
the scheme for a stated act of violence by a stated 30
person, including, if assistance is granted in relation to 31
the act-- 32
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Victims of Crime Assistance Bill 2009
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Part 20 Miscellaneous
[s 133]
(i) the amount of assistance granted; and 1
(ii) the expenses, loss of earnings or other component 2
for which assistance is granted. 3
(2) The scheme manager may give the information only if the 4
scheme manager is reasonably satisfied the corresponding 5
scheme manager needs the information for deciding the 6
person's application for assistance under a corresponding 7
scheme. 8
(3) A person who acquires information, or accesses a document 9
containing information, given under subsection (2) must not 10
do either of the following-- 11
(a) disclose to anyone else-- 12
(i) the information; or 13
(ii) the contents of or information contained in the 14
document; 15
(b) give access to the document to anyone else. 16
Maximum penalty--100 penalty units or 2 years 17
imprisonment. 18
(4) Subsection (3) does not apply to the disclosure of information, 19
or the giving of access to a document, about a person-- 20
(a) with the person's consent; or 21
(b) in connection with the performance of a function under 22
the law that provides for the corresponding scheme; or 23
(c) as required or authorised under an Act or law. 24
(5) In this section-- 25
corresponding scheme means a scheme (however called) 26
under a law of the Commonwealth or another State that 27
provides for the payment of financial assistance (however 28
called) to victims of violence. 29
corresponding scheme manager means a person who has 30
similar functions to the scheme manager in relation to a 31
corresponding scheme. 32
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Victims of Crime Assistance Bill 2009
Chapter 3 Victims financial assistance scheme
Part 20 Miscellaneous
[s 134]
134 Arrangement with corresponding scheme managers 1
about giving and receiving information 2
(1) This section applies to the scheme manager and a 3
corresponding scheme manager-- 4
(a) only to the extent this Act or another law allows the 5
scheme manager to give information to the 6
corresponding scheme manager; and 7
(b) only to the extent another law allows the corresponding 8
scheme manager to give information to the scheme 9
manager. 10
(2) The scheme manager and corresponding scheme manager 11
may enter into a written arrangement by which the 12
information is given and received. 13
(3) Without limiting subsection (2), the arrangement may provide 14
for the electronic transfer of information. 15
(4) However, if information is to be electronically transferred and, 16
under this Act or another law, there is a limitation on who may 17
access the information or the purposes for which the 18
information may be used, the arrangement must provide for 19
the limitation. 20
(5) In this section-- 21
corresponding scheme means a scheme (however called) 22
under a law of the Commonwealth or another State that 23
provides for the payment of financial assistance (however 24
called) to victims of violence. 25
corresponding scheme manager means a person who has 26
similar functions to the scheme manager in relation to a 27
corresponding scheme. 28
135 Other information-sharing arrangements 29
(1) This section applies to the extent another provision of this Act 30
allows another entity to give information to a government 31
assessor. 32
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Victims of Crime Assistance Bill 2009
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Part 20 Miscellaneous
[s 136]
(2) The chief executive and the entity may enter into a written 1
arrangement for giving the information. 2
(3) Without limiting subsection (2), the arrangement may provide 3
for the electronic transfer of information. 4
(4) However, if the information is to be electronically transferred 5
and, under this Act, there is a limitation on who may access 6
the information or the purposes for which the information 7
may be used, the arrangement must provide for the limitation. 8
136 Obtaining information about other victims 9
(1) A person may ask the scheme manager for prescribed 10
information about someone else who has been granted 11
assistance if the person and the other person are-- 12
(a) victims of the same act of violence; and 13
(b) eligible for assistance, or a component of assistance, 14
that is subject to an assistance limit. 15
(2) The scheme manager may give the person the prescribed 16
information if the scheme manager is reasonably satisfied that 17
the person needs the information for-- 18
(a) deciding whether or not to apply for a review of a 19
government assessor's decision on the person's 20
application for assistance; or 21
(b) making submissions for a review under section 124 or 22
125. 23
(3) In deciding whether or not a person needs prescribed 24
information as mentioned in subsection (2), the scheme 25
manager must consider whether the needs can be met without 26
giving the name or other identifying particulars of the other 27
person. 28
(4) A person who obtains prescribed information about someone 29
else under this section must not disclose the information to 30
anyone else. 31
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Victims of Crime Assistance Bill 2009
Chapter 3 Victims financial assistance scheme
Part 20 Miscellaneous
[s 137]
Maximum penalty--100 penalty units or 2 years 1
imprisonment. 2
(5) Subsection (4) does not apply to the disclosure of information 3
about a person-- 4
(a) with the other person's consent; or 5
(b) for a purpose mentioned in subsection (2); or 6
(c) as required or authorised under an Act or law. 7
(6) In this section-- 8
prescribed information, about a person, means-- 9
(a) the person's name or other identifying particulars; or 10
(b) the proportion of an assistance limit granted to the 11
person; or 12
(c) the reasons for the decision about the proportion of an 13
assistance limit granted to the person. 14
137 Inadmissibility of particular matters 15
(1) The following is inadmissible in any proceeding for the 16
prosecution of a relevant offence for an act of violence-- 17
(a) that a person has applied for, or has or has not been 18
granted, assistance in relation to the act of violence; 19
(b) a decision of the scheme manager, a government 20
assessor or a departmental employee about an 21
application for assistance in relation to an act of 22
violence, including-- 23
(i) a decision on a question of fact relating to the act 24
of violence; and 25
(ii) a decision to grant or not grant assistance. 26
(2) In this section-- 27
application for assistance means-- 28
(a) an application for assistance; or 29
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Victims of Crime Assistance Bill 2009
Chapter 4 Victim services coordinator
[s 138]
(b) an application for amendment of assistance under 1
section 36 or 101; or 2
(c) an application for interim assistance under part 14; or 3
(d) an application for the review of a decision under section 4
124. 5
Chapter 4 Victim services coordinator 6
138 Appointment of victim services coordinator 7
(1) The chief executive must appoint a victim services 8
coordinator in writing. 9
(2) A person is eligible for appointment as the victim services 10
coordinator if the person is-- 11
(a) a public service employee; and 12
(b) appropriately qualified for the functions and powers of 13
the victim services coordinator under this Act. 14
(3) The appointment of the victim services coordinator is subject 15
to the conditions stated in the document of appointment. 16
(4) The victim services coordinator stops being the victim 17
services coordinator-- 18
(a) at the end of the term of appointment stated in the 19
document of appointment; or 20
(b) if the victim services coordinator stops being a public 21
service employee. 22
(5) The victim services coordinator may do all things necessary 23
or convenient to be done for the performance of the 24
coordinator's functions under this Act. 25
139 Functions of victim services coordinator 26
(1) The functions of the victim services coordinator are-- 27
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Chapter 4 Victim services coordinator
[s 139]
(a) to undertake or commission research about the needs of 1
victims; 2
(b) to develop educational and other programs to promote 3
awareness of the needs of victims and of the principles; 4
and 5
(c) to distribute information about the operation of this Act, 6
and the coordinator's functions, to-- 7
(i) victim service providers; and 8
(ii) the public generally; and 9
(d) to help victim service providers to coordinate the 10
services provided by them so that the services are 11
provided in a way that is effective and efficient; and 12
(e) to help government entities to develop and comply 13
with-- 14
(i) processes for implementing the principles; and 15
(ii) processes for resolving complaints made by 16
victims under chapter 2, part 3; and 17
(f) to refer complaints made to the victim services 18
coordinator under chapter 2, part 3, as required and in 19
the way provided under section 19(3) or (4); and 20
(g) to facilitate the resolution of complaints made under 21
chapter 2, part 3, as provided for under the complaint 22
resolution processes of the relevant government entity; 23
and 24
(h) to assist victims in obtaining the information or 25
assistance they need as a victim. 26
(2) In this section-- 27
victim includes a person who has suffered harm as a direct 28
result of witnessing a crime committed against someone else. 29
victim service providers means entities who provide services 30
to help victims. 31
Page 119
Victims of Crime Assistance Bill 2009
Chapter 5 Miscellaneous
[s 140]
Chapter 5 Miscellaneous 1
140 Confidentiality 2
(1) This section applies to a prescribed person who has, in the 3
course of administering this Act or because of an opportunity 4
provided by involvement in administering this Act-- 5
(a) acquired information about someone else; or 6
(b) gained access to a document about someone else. 7
(2) The prescribed person must not do either of the following-- 8
(a) disclose to anyone else-- 9
(i) the information; or 10
(ii) the contents of or information contained in the 11
document; 12
(b) give access to the document to anyone else. 13
Maximum penalty--100 penalty units or 2 years 14
imprisonment. 15
(3) Subsection (2) does not apply to the disclosure of information, 16
or the giving of access to a document, about a person-- 17
(a) with the person's consent; or 18
(b) in connection with the performance of a function under 19
this Act; or 20
(c) as required or authorised under an Act or law, including 21
under section 133 or 136. 22
(4) In this section-- 23
prescribed person means a person who is or has been 24
involved in the administration of this Act, including a person 25
who is or has been an official. 26
141 False or misleading information 27
(1) A person must not state to an official anything the person 28
knows is false or misleading in a material particular. 29
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Victims of Crime Assistance Bill 2009
Chapter 5 Miscellaneous
[s 142]
Maximum penalty--100 penalty units. 1
(2) A person must not give an official a document containing 2
information the person knows is false or misleading in a 3
material particular. 4
Maximum penalty--100 penalty units. 5
(3) Subsection (2) does not apply to a person if the person, when 6
giving the document-- 7
(a) tells the official, to the best of the person's ability, how it 8
is false or misleading; and 9
(b) if the person has, or can reasonably obtain, the correct 10
information--gives the correct information. 11
142 Proceedings for offences 12
An offence against this Act may be prosecuted in a summary 13
way under the Justices Act 1886. 14
143 Protection from civil liability 15
(1) An official is not civilly liable for an act done, or omission 16
made, honestly and without negligence under this Act. 17
(2) If subsection (1) prevents civil liability attaching to an official, 18
the liability attaches instead to the State. 19
144 Review of Act 20
(1) The Minister must review this Act within 5 years after the 21
commencement of this section to decide whether the Act's 22
provisions remain appropriate. 23
(2) The Minister must, as soon as practicable after finishing the 24
review, table a report about its outcome in the Legislative 25
Assembly. 26
145 Approved forms 27
The chief executive may approve forms for use under this Act. 28
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Victims of Crime Assistance Bill 2009
Chapter 5 Miscellaneous
[s 146]
146 Regulation-making power 1
The Governor in Council may make regulations under this 2
Act. 3
147 Temporary regulation-making power 4
(1) A regulation (a temporary regulation) may prescribe a matter 5
that a temporary regulation may prescribe under a provision 6
of this Act. 7
(2) A temporary regulation must declare it is a temporary 8
regulation. 9
(3) A provision of a temporary regulation prescribing a matter 10
mentioned in subsection (1) expires 1 year after its 11
commencement. 12
(4) A temporary regulation may be used to prescribe a particular 13
matter only once. 14
148 Transitional regulation-making power 15
(1) A regulation (a transitional regulation) may make provision 16
about the preservation of a right or benefit a person has under 17
a repealed provision by-- 18
(a) providing for the right or benefit to continue under this 19
Act, with or without addition; or 20
(b) continuing the operation of a repealed provision. 21
(2) A transitional regulation must declare it is a transitional 22
regulation. 23
(3) This section, and any provision of a transitional regulation 24
made under this section, expire at the end of 2 years after the 25
commencement of this section. 26
(4) In this section-- 27
repealed provision means-- 28
(a) a provision of the repealed Criminal Offence Victims Act 29
1995, as in force from time to time before its repeal; or 30
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Victims of Crime Assistance Bill 2009
Chapter 6 Repeal and transitional provisions
Part 1 Repeal provision
[s 149]
(b) the Criminal Code, chapter 65A, as in force from time to 1
time before its repeal, and includes that chapter as it 2
continued to apply under the repealed Criminal Offence 3
Victims Act 1995, section 46(2). 4
Chapter 6 Repeal and transitional 5
provisions 6
Part 1 Repeal provision 7
149 Repeal 8
The Criminal Offence Victims Act 1995, No. 54 is repealed. 9
Part 2 Transitional provisions 10
Division 1 Preliminary 11
150 Definitions for pt 2 12
In this part-- 13
commencement means the commencement of this section. 14
compensation includes an amount by way of compensation. 15
injury means-- 16
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Victims of Crime Assistance Bill 2009
Chapter 6 Repeal and transitional provisions
Part 2 Transitional provisions
[s 150]
(a) for compensation or another amount payable under the 1
repealed Act--injury as defined under section 20 of that 2
Act; or 3
(b) for compensation or another amount payable under the 4
repealed Criminal Code chapter--injury as defined 5
under section 663A of that chapter; or 6
(c) for division 5-- 7
(i) injury within the meaning of paragraph (a) or (b) 8
for a personal offence committed before the 9
commencement; or 10
(ii) injury within the meaning of section 27 for a 11
personal offence committed after the 12
commencement. 13
personal offence means-- 14
(a) for compensation or another amount payable under the 15
repealed Act--personal offence as defined under section 16
21 of that Act; or 17
(b) for compensation or another amount payable under the 18
repealed Criminal Code chapter--an indictable offence 19
relating to the person of any person; or 20
(c) for division 5-- 21
(i) a personal offence within the meaning of 22
paragraph (a) or (b) committed before the 23
commencement; or 24
(ii) a prescribed offence within the meaning of section 25
25(8) committed after the commencement. 26
previous prescribed offence means-- 27
(a) in relation to the payment of an amount under section 33 28
of the repealed Act or section 663D(1)(b) or (c) of the 29
repealed Criminal Code chapter--a personal offence; or 30
(b) in relation to the payment of an amount under section 34 31
of the repealed Act or section 663D(1)(a) of the 32
repealed Criminal Code chapter-- 33
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Victims of Crime Assistance Bill 2009
Chapter 6 Repeal and transitional provisions
Part 2 Transitional provisions
[s 150]
(i) for a person helping a police officer to make or 1
attempt to make an arrest--the offence in relation 2
to which the police officer was attempting to make, 3
or making, the arrest, or another offence arising out 4
of substantially the same facts and circumstances 5
as those in relation to which the police officer was 6
attempting to make, or making, the arrest; or 7
(ii) for a person helping a police officer to prevent, or 8
attempt to prevent, an offence or suspected 9
offence--the offence or suspected offence; or 10
(c) in relation to the payment of an amount under section 35 11
of the repealed Act--a murder or manslaughter. 12
relevant event means-- 13
(a) for a person who could have, if this chapter had not 14
commenced, applied for the payment of an amount 15
under section 33(1)(a) of the repealed Act--the end of 16
the trial for the personal offence in relation to which the 17
person's entitlement to make the application arose; or 18
(b) for a person who could have, if this chapter had not 19
commenced, applied for the payment of an amount 20
under section 33(1)(b)(i) of the repealed Act--the 21
finding that the person who committed the act or 22
omission constituting the personal offence in relation to 23
which the person's entitlement to make the application 24
arose was suffering from unsoundness of mind when 25
doing the act or making the omission, or was not fit for 26
trial, under the Mental Health Act 2000, chapter 7, part 27
6; or 28
(c) for a person who could have, if this chapter had not 29
commenced, applied for the payment of an amount 30
under section 33(1)(b)(ii) of the repealed Act, or section 31
663D(1)(b) or (c)(ii) of the repealed Criminal Code 32
chapter--the doing of the act or the making of the 33
omission constituting the personal offence in relation to 34
which the person's entitlement to make the application 35
arose; or 36
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Victims of Crime Assistance Bill 2009
Chapter 6 Repeal and transitional provisions
Part 2 Transitional provisions
[s 150]
(d) for a person who could have, if this chapter had not 1
commenced, applied for the payment of an amount 2
under section 33(1)(c) of the repealed Act, or section 3
663D(1)(c)(i) of the repealed Criminal Code 4
chapter--the notification of the person by the 5
investigating police officer that the person who 6
committed the personal offence in relation to which the 7
person's entitlement to make the application arose can 8
not be identified or found after appropriate inquiry and 9
search; or 10
(e) for a person who could have, if this chapter had not 11
commenced, applied for the payment of an amount 12
under section 34 of the repealed Act, or section 13
663D(1)(a) of the repealed Criminal Code chapter--the 14
giving of the help to the police officer; or 15
(f) for a person who could have, if this chapter had not 16
commenced, applied for the payment of an amount 17
under section 35 of the repealed Act--the death in 18
relation to which the person's entitlement to make the 19
application arose; or 20
(g) for a person who could have, if this chapter had not 21
commenced, applied for the payment of an amount 22
under section 663D(1)(c)(iii) of the repealed Criminal 23
Code chapter--when the prosecution process for the 24
indictment presented for the personal offence in relation 25
to which the person's entitlement to make the 26
application arose ends, including, for example, 27
because-- 28
(i) the prosecuting agency decides not to continue 29
with the indictment or any other indictment for the 30
personal offence; or 31
(ii) the trial for the personal offence ends and the 32
person is not convicted of the offence; or 33
(iii) the prosecution process for the indictment ends in 34
another way. 35
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Victims of Crime Assistance Bill 2009
Chapter 6 Repeal and transitional provisions
Part 2 Transitional provisions
[s 151]
repealed Act means the repealed Criminal Offence Victims 1
Act 1995, as in force from time to time before its repeal. 2
repealed Criminal Code chapter means the Criminal Code, 3
chapter 65A, as it continued to apply from time to time under 4
section 46(2) of the repealed Act. 5
Note-- 6
The Criminal Code, chapter 65A was repealed on 18 December 1995 by 7
section 45 and schedule 2 of the repealed Act as originally enacted. 8
repealed legislation means the repealed Act or the repealed 9
Criminal Code chapter. 10
151 References to person making an application 11
In this part, if at a particular time a person has made an 12
application but has withdrawn it before it is decided, the 13
person is taken at that time to not have made the application. 14
Example-- 15
At the commencement, a person has made an application under the 16
repealed Act but has withdrawn it before it was decided. The person is 17
taken, at the commencement, to not have made the application. 18
152 Acts Interpretation Act 1954, s 20 not limited 19
Subject to sections 155(6), 160(5) and 164(5), this part does 20
not limit the Acts Interpretation Act 1954, section 20. 21
153 Application of Act to acts done before commencement 22
Other than as provided under division 2, 3 or 5, chapter 3 does 23
not apply in relation to an act of violence committed before 24
the commencement. 25
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[s 154]
Division 2 Applications that could have been 1
made to a court 2
154 Application of div 2 3
(1) This division applies if-- 4
(a) a person could have, if this chapter had not commenced, 5
applied to a court for an order requiring the payment of 6
compensation for injury suffered because of a personal 7
offence committed before the commencement, under-- 8
(i) section 24 of the repealed Act; or 9
(ii) section 663B of the repealed Criminal Code 10
chapter; and 11
(b) at the commencement, the person has not made an 12
application under a provision mentioned in paragraph 13
(a)(i) or (ii) for the injury. 14
Note-- 15
See division 7 if, at the commencement, the period within which a 16
person could have applied for an order mentioned in subsection (1)(a) 17
has already expired. 18
(2) For subsection (1), it is immaterial-- 19
(a) whether the person's injury is suffered before or after 20
the commencement, or over a period starting before the 21
commencement and ending after the commencement; 22
and 23
(b) whether the conviction in relation to which the person's 24
entitlement to apply for the order arose happens before 25
or after the commencement; and 26
(c) for a person to whom subsection (1)(a)(i) 27
applies--whether the person's entitlement to apply for 28
the order is the result of an order made under section 41 29
of the repealed Act before the commencement. 30
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[s 155]
Note-- 1
See division 8 in relation to applying, under section 32 of the repealed 2
Act or section 663C of the repealed Criminal Code chapter, to the State 3
for the payment of an amount that must be paid under an order 4
mentioned in subsection (1)(a). 5
155 Person may apply for order under repealed legislation in 6
particular circumstances 7
(1) If the conviction mentioned in section 154(2)(b) happens 8
before the commencement, the person may apply for the order 9
mentioned in section 154(1)(a) under the following provision 10
(the relevant provision)-- 11
(a) if section 154(1)(a)(i) applies to the person--section 24 12
of the repealed Act; or 13
(b) if section 154(1)(a)(ii) applies to the person--section 14
663B of the repealed Criminal Code chapter. 15
Note-- 16
If the person does not make an application under this section, the person 17
may be able to apply for assistance under section 156. 18
(2) The application must be made before the earlier of the 19
following-- 20
(a) the expiry of the period within which the person could 21
have, if this chapter had not commenced, applied for the 22
order mentioned in section 154(1)(a); 23
(b) the end of 2 months after the commencement. 24
(3) The court to which the application is made must hear and 25
decide the application under the relevant provision. 26
(4) For subsection (3), the repealed provision, and any other 27
provisions of the repealed legislation that are necessary or 28
convenient to be used in relation to the application, continue 29
to apply as if this chapter had not commenced. 30
(5) Without limiting subsection (3), section 28(1) of the repealed 31
Act continues to apply in relation to the making of an order 32
under section 24 of the repealed Act. 33
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[s 156]
Note-- 1
Division 8 provides for the application of the repealed legislation in 2
relation to an order made under the repealed provision, including an 3
order made after the commencement. 4
(6) This section applies despite the Acts Interpretation Act 1954, 5
section 20. 6
156 Person may apply for assistance 7
(1) This section applies if-- 8
(a) the conviction mentioned in section 154(2)(b) happens 9
on or after the commencement; or 10
(b) the person has not made an application under section 11
155 whether or not the 2 month period mentioned in 12
section 155(2)(b) has passed. 13
(2) The person may apply for victim assistance. 14
(3) The application for victim assistance must be made-- 15
(a) if the person is a Criminal Code applicant and the 16
conviction mentioned in section 154(2)(b) happened 2 17
years or more before the commencement-- 18
(i) if the person was an adult when the conviction 19
happened--before the earlier of the following-- 20
(A) the end of 6 years after the conviction; 21
(B) the end of 1 year after the commencement; 22
or 23
(ii) if the person was a child when the conviction 24
happened--before the later of the following-- 25
(A) the applicant turns 21; 26
(B) the end of 1 year after the commencement; 27
or 28
(b) in any other case-- 29
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[s 157]
(i) for a person who was an adult when the conviction 1
mentioned in section 154(2)(b) happened--within 2
3 years after the conviction; or 3
(ii) for a person who was a child when the conviction 4
mentioned in section 154(2)(b) happened--before 5
the person turns 21. 6
(4) However, the scheme manager may, under section 54(2), 7
extend the time for making an application for victim 8
assistance under this section. 9
(5) In this section-- 10
Criminal Code applicant means a person to whom section 11
154(1)(a)(ii) applies. 12
157 Deciding application for assistance etc. 13
(1) For applying section 156 and chapter 3 to the application for 14
victim assistance-- 15
(a) the personal offence is taken to be an act of violence; 16
and 17
(b) the person is taken to be a primary victim of the act of 18
violence. 19
(2) Deciding an application for assistance under this division is 20
subject to division 5. 21
Note-- 22
Division 5 provides for how a series of related offences must be treated. 23
158 Recovery of assistance granted 24
If assistance is granted under this division in relation to an act 25
of violence, chapter 3, part 16 applies in relation to a person 26
convicted of a relevant offence for the act, whether the 27
conviction happens before or after the commencement. 28
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[s 159]
Division 3 Applications that could have been 1
made to the State 2
Subdivision 1 Applications by persons other than 3
dependants or family members 4
159 Application of sdiv 1 5
(1) This subdivision applies if-- 6
(a) a person could have, if this chapter had not commenced, 7
applied for the payment of an amount for injury suffered 8
because of a previous prescribed offence committed 9
before the commencement, under-- 10
(i) section 33 or 34 of the repealed Act; or 11
(ii) section 663D of the repealed Criminal Code 12
chapter; and 13
(b) at the commencement, the person has not made an 14
application under a provision mentioned in paragraph 15
(a)(i) or (ii) for the injury. 16
Note-- 17
See division 7 if, at the commencement, the period within which a 18
person could have applied for the payment of an amount mentioned in 19
subsection (1)(a) has already expired. 20
(2) For subsection (1), it is immaterial-- 21
(a) whether the person's injury is suffered before or after 22
the commencement, or over a period starting before the 23
commencement and ending after the commencement; 24
and 25
(b) for a person whose entitlement to make the application 26
arose because of an event mentioned in section 150, 27
definition relevant event, paragraph (a), (b), (d) or 28
(g)--whether the relevant event happens before or after 29
the commencement; and 30
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[s 160]
(c) for a person to whom subsection (1)(a)(i) 1
applies--whether the person's entitlement to apply for 2
the payment mentioned in subsection (1)(a) is the result 3
of an order made under section 41 of the repealed Act 4
before the commencement. 5
160 Person may apply for assistance 6
(1) The person can not apply, under the repealed legislation, for 7
the payment of an amount mentioned in section 159(1)(a) 8
after the commencement. 9
(2) However, the person may apply for assistance. 10
(3) The application for assistance must be made-- 11
(a) if the person is a Criminal Code applicant and the 12
relevant event happened 2 years or more before the 13
commencement-- 14
(i) if the person was an adult when the relevant event 15
happened--within 1 year after the commencement; 16
or 17
(ii) if the person was a child when the relevant event 18
happened--before the later of the following-- 19
(A) the applicant turns 21; 20
(B) the end of 1 year after the commencement; 21
or 22
(b) in any other case-- 23
(i) for a person who was an adult when the relevant 24
event happened--within 3 years after the relevant 25
event; or 26
(ii) for a person who was a child when the relevant 27
event happened--before the person turns 21. 28
(4) However, the scheme manager may, under section 54(2), 29
extend the time for making an application for assistance under 30
this section. 31
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[s 161]
(5) This section applies despite the Acts Interpretation Act 1954, 1
section 20. 2
(6) In this section-- 3
Criminal Code applicant means a person to whom section 4
159(1)(a)(ii) applies. 5
161 Deciding application for assistance etc. 6
(1) For applying section 160 and chapter 3 to the application for 7
assistance-- 8
(a) the previous prescribed offence is taken to be an act of 9
violence committed after the commencement; and 10
(b) the person is taken to be the primary victim of the act of 11
violence. 12
(2) Deciding an application for assistance under this subdivision 13
is subject to division 5. 14
Note-- 15
Division 5 provides for how a series of related offences must be treated. 16
162 Recovery of assistance granted 17
If assistance is granted under this subdivision in relation to an 18
act of violence, chapter 3, part 16 applies in relation to a 19
person convicted of a relevant offence for the act-- 20
(a) whether the conviction happens before or after the 21
commencement; and 22
(b) whether the conviction happens before or after the 23
assistance is granted. 24
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[s 163]
Subdivision 2 Applications by dependants or 1
family members 2
163 Application of sdiv 2 3
(1) This subdivision applies if-- 4
(a) a person could have, if this chapter had not commenced, 5
applied for the payment of an amount because of a 6
previous prescribed offence committed before the 7
commencement, under section 35 of the repealed Act; 8
and 9
(b) at the commencement, the person has not made an 10
application under section 35 of the repealed Act for the 11
previous prescribed offence. 12
Note-- 13
See division 7 if, at the commencement, the period within which a 14
person could have applied for the payment of an amount mentioned in 15
subsection (1)(a) has already expired. 16
(2) For subsection (1), it is immaterial-- 17
(a) whether the relevant event happens before or after the 18
commencement; and 19
(b) whether the person's entitlement to apply for the 20
payment mentioned in subsection (1)(a) is the result of 21
an order made under section 41 of the repealed Act 22
before the commencement. 23
164 Person may apply for assistance 24
(1) The person can not apply, under the repealed legislation, for 25
the payment of an amount mentioned in section 163(1)(a) 26
after the commencement. 27
(2) However, the person may apply for assistance. 28
(3) The application for assistance must be made-- 29
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[s 165]
(a) if the person was an adult when the relevant event 1
happened--within 3 years after the relevant event; or 2
(b) if the person was a child when the relevant event 3
happened--before the person turns 21. 4
(4) However, the scheme manager may, under section 54(2), 5
extend the time for making an application for assistance under 6
this section. 7
(5) This section applies despite the Acts Interpretation Act 1954, 8
section 20. 9
165 Deciding application for assistance etc. 10
(1) For applying section 164 and chapter 3 to the application for 11
assistance-- 12
(a) the previous prescribed offence is taken to be an act of 13
violence committed after the commencement; and 14
(b) the person is taken to be a related victim of the act of 15
violence; and 16
(c) the person whose death in relation to which the person's 17
entitlement to make the application arose is taken to be 18
the primary victim of the act of violence. 19
(2) Deciding an application for assistance under this subdivision 20
is subject to division 6. 21
Note-- 22
Division 6 provides for how applications by dependants or family 23
members must be treated if some are made under the repealed Act and 24
some are made under this subdivision. 25
166 Recovery of assistance granted 26
If assistance is granted under this subdivision in relation to an 27
act of violence, chapter 3, part 16 applies in relation to a 28
person convicted of a relevant offence for the act-- 29
(a) whether the conviction happens before or after the 30
commencement; and 31
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[s 167]
(b) whether the conviction happens before or after the 1
assistance is granted. 2
Division 4 Existing applications 3
167 Existing application for compensation order of court 4
(1) This section applies if-- 5
(a) a person has applied to a court for an order requiring the 6
payment of compensation under either of the following 7
(each the repealed provision)-- 8
(i) section 24 of the repealed Act (including an 9
application made under section 42 of that Act); 10
(ii) section 663B of the repealed Criminal Code 11
chapter; and 12
(b) the application has not been finally decided before the 13
commencement. 14
(2) The court must hear, or continue to hear, and decide the 15
application under the repealed provision. 16
(3) For subsection (2), the repealed provision, and any other 17
provisions of the repealed legislation that are necessary or 18
convenient to be used in relation to the application, continue 19
to apply as if this chapter had not commenced. 20
(4) Without limiting subsection (3), section 28(1) of the repealed 21
Act continues to apply in relation to the making of an order 22
under section 24 of the repealed Act. 23
Note-- 24
Division 8 provides for the application of the repealed legislation in 25
relation to an order made under the repealed provision, including an 26
order made after the commencement. 27
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[s 168]
168 Existing application for payment of court ordered 1
compensation by the State 2
(1) This section applies if-- 3
(a) either-- 4
(i) a court has made an order under section 24 of the 5
repealed Act and a person has applied for the 6
payment of an amount the subject of the order 7
under section 32 of that Act (the repealed 8
provision); or 9
(ii) a court has made an order under section 663B of 10
the repealed Criminal Code chapter and a person 11
has applied for the payment of an amount the 12
subject of the order under section 663C of that 13
chapter (also the repealed provision); and 14
(b) at the commencement, the application has not been 15
finally dealt with. 16
(2) The entity to whom the application was made must deal with 17
the application under the repealed provision. 18
(3) For subsection (2), the repealed provision, and any other 19
provisions of the repealed legislation that are necessary or 20
convenient to be used in relation to the application, continue 21
to apply as if this chapter had not commenced. 22
(4) Without limiting subsection (3), the relevant appropriation 23
provision continues to apply to any payment to be made in 24
relation to the application as if this chapter had not 25
commenced. 26
(5) If at the end of 3 years after the commencement the applicant 27
has not given all the necessary information, documents or 28
other assistance to enable the application to be decided, the 29
application lapses. 30
Note-- 31
See-- 32
(a) for an application under section 32 of the repealed Act--section 33
36(4) to (6) of that Act; or 34
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Chapter 6 Repeal and transitional provisions
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[s 169]
(b) for an application under section 663C of the repealed Criminal 1
Code chapter--section 663C(2) and (3) of that chapter. 2
(6) If an application lapses under subsection (5), the applicant can 3
not make a further application under this part. 4
(7) The scheme manager must-- 5
(a) give the applicant notice of the effect of subsection (5) 6
and (6); and 7
(b) ensure all reasonable steps are taken to give the 8
applicant an opportunity to give the necessary 9
information, documents or other assistance to enable the 10
application to be decided within the 3 year period 11
mentioned in subsection (5). 12
(8) In this section-- 13
relevant appropriation provision means-- 14
(a) for an application under section 32 of the repealed 15
Act--section 37 of the repealed Act; or 16
(b) for an application under section 663C of the repealed 17
Criminal Code chapter--section 663E(1) of the repealed 18
Criminal Code chapter. 19
169 Existing application for payment of another amount by 20
the State 21
(1) This section applies if-- 22
(a) a person has applied for the payment of an amount 23
under any of the following (each the repealed 24
provision)-- 25
(i) section 33, 34 or 35 of the repealed Act; 26
(ii) section 663D of the repealed Criminal Code 27
chapter; and 28
(b) the application has not been finally dealt with before the 29
commencement. 30
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[s 169]
(2) The entity to whom the application is made must deal with the 1
application under the repealed provision. 2
(3) For subsection (2), the repealed provision, and any other 3
provisions of the repealed legislation that are necessary or 4
convenient to be used in relation to the application, continue 5
to apply as if this chapter had not commenced. 6
(4) Without limiting subsection (3), the relevant appropriation 7
provision continues to apply to any payment to be made in 8
relation to the application as if this chapter had not 9
commenced. 10
(5) If at the end of 3 years after the commencement the applicant 11
has not given all the necessary information, documents or 12
other assistance to enable the application to be decided, the 13
application lapses. 14
Note-- 15
See-- 16
(a) for an application under section 33, 34 or 35 of the repealed 17
Act--section 36(4) to (6) of that Act; or 18
(b) for an application under section 663D of the repealed Criminal 19
Code chapter--sections 663D(2) and (3) of that chapter. 20
(6) If an application lapses under subsection (5), the applicant can 21
not make a further application under the repealed provision. 22
(7) However, if at the end of the 3 year period mentioned in 23
subsection (5) the applicant could have, if this chapter had not 24
commenced, applied to the State for the payment of an 25
amount under the repealed provision-- 26
(a) if the repealed provision is section 33 or 34 of the 27
repealed Act or section 663D of the repealed Criminal 28
Code chapter-- 29
(i) the applicant may apply for victim assistance; and 30
(ii) division 3, subdivision 1 applies in relation to the 31
application as if the application were made under 32
that subdivision; or 33
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Victims of Crime Assistance Bill 2009
Chapter 6 Repeal and transitional provisions
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[s 170]
(b) if the repealed provision is section 35 of the repealed 1
Act-- 2
(i) the applicant may apply for victim assistance; and 3
(ii) division 3, subdivision 2 applies in relation to the 4
application as if the application were made under 5
that subdivision. 6
(8) The scheme manager must-- 7
(a) give the applicant notice of the effect of subsections (5) 8
to (7); and 9
(b) ensure all reasonable steps are taken to give the 10
applicant an opportunity to give the necessary 11
information, documents or other assistance to enable the 12
application to be decided within the 3 year period 13
mentioned in subsection (5). 14
(9) In this section-- 15
relevant appropriation provision means-- 16
(a) for an application under section 33, 34 or 35 of the 17
repealed Act--section 37 of the repealed Act; or 18
(b) for an application under section 663D of the repealed 19
Criminal Code chapter--section 663E(1) of the repealed 20
Criminal Code chapter. 21
Division 5 Special provisions if series of 22
related offences 23
170 Application of div 5 24
(1) This division applies if-- 25
(a) a person suffers injury because of 2 or more personal 26
offences against the person that are a series of related 27
offences; and 28
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[s 170]
(b) at least 1 of the personal offences in the series happened 1
before the commencement; and 2
(c) the person makes-- 3
(i) an application for victim assistance under this part 4
for injury suffered because of 1 or more personal 5
offences in the series that are committed before the 6
commencement; or 7
(ii) an application for victim assistance under chapter 3 8
for 1 or more personal offences in the series that 9
are committed after the commencement; or 10
(iii) a combination of applications as mentioned in 11
subparagraph (i) or (ii). 12
(2) For subsection (1), 2 or more personal offences are a series of 13
related offences if the acts constituting the personal offences 14
are related because-- 15
(a) they are committed against the same person and-- 16
(i) are committed at about the same time; or 17
(ii) are committed over a period by the same person or 18
group of persons; or 19
(iii) share another common factor; or 20
(b) they all contribute to the death of or injury to a person; 21
or 22
(c) they, having regard to the circumstances of the acts, are 23
related in some other way. 24
(3) However, a personal offence (later offence) is not related to a 25
previous personal offence (earlier offence) if the later offence 26
is committed after assistance is granted in relation to the 27
earlier offence. 28
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[s 171]
171 Personal offences in the series constitute single act of 1
violence 2
(1) For applying chapter 3 to an application mentioned in section 3
170(1)(c)-- 4
(a) the personal offences in the series of related offences are 5
taken to be a single act of violence; and 6
(b) assistance may be granted to the person only for the 7
single act of violence. 8
(2) Without limiting subsection (1), if a person makes 2 or more 9
applications as mentioned in section 170(1)(c), sections 70 10
and 83(4) apply in relation to the applications-- 11
(a) as if a reference in the sections to a series of related 12
crimes included a reference to a series of related 13
offences within the meaning of section 170(2); and 14
(b) even if 1 or more of the applications were made under 15
this part and 1 or more of the applications were made 16
under chapter 3. 17
172 Effect of decision under repealed legislation for personal 18
offences in the series 19
(1) This section applies if a compensation order has been made in 20
relation to 1 or more personal offences in the series of related 21
offences. 22
(2) The government assessor must reduce the amount of victim 23
assistance that would otherwise be payable to the person in 24
relation to the single act of violence by an amount of up to the 25
amount the person will receive, or is likely to receive, as a 26
result of the compensation order. 27
(3) In this section-- 28
compensation order means either of the following, whether 29
made before the commencement or after the commencement 30
under section 155, division 4 or section 177-- 31
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[s 173]
(a) an order under section 24 of the repealed Act, or section 1
663B of the repealed Criminal Code chapter, requiring 2
the payment of compensation for injury suffered 3
because of a personal offence; 4
(b) a decision under section 33 of the repealed Act, or 5
section 663D(1)(b) or (c) of the repealed Criminal Code 6
chapter, to pay an amount to a person for injury suffered 7
because of a personal offence. 8
173 Effect of application under repealed legislation for 9
personal offences in the series 10
(1) This section applies if the person also has a repealed 11
legislation application for injury suffered because of 1 or more 12
personal offences in the series of related offences. 13
(2) The government assessor must-- 14
(a) defer deciding an application mentioned in section 15
170(1)(c) until the repealed legislation application is 16
decided; and 17
(b) if the repealed legislation application is granted--reduce 18
the amount of victim assistance that would otherwise be 19
payable to the person in relation to the single act of 20
violence by an amount of up to the amount the person 21
will receive, or is likely to receive, as a result of the 22
repealed legislation application being granted. 23
(3) In this section-- 24
repealed legislation application, for an injury suffered 25
because of a personal offence, means an application for the 26
payment of compensation, or the payment of an amount, for 27
the injury-- 28
(a) that-- 29
(i) was made under the repealed legislation before the 30
commencement; and 31
(ii) to which section 167 or 169 applies; or 32
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[s 174]
(b) that was made under the repealed legislation after the 1
commencement under section 155 or 177. 2
174 Deciding component of assistance after reduction under 3
s 172 or 173 4
(1) This section applies if, in relation to a single act of violence-- 5
(a) the victim assistance payable to the person is reduced 6
under section 172(2) or 173(2)(b), or both of those 7
provisions; and 8
(b) an amount of victim assistance remains payable to the 9
person after the reduction. 10
(2) The government assessor must-- 11
(a) decide the component of victim assistance for which the 12
amount is payable, having regard to-- 13
(i) the person's needs; and 14
(ii) whether the person has incurred any expenses; and 15
(iii) anything else the government assessor considers 16
relevant; and 17
(b) give the person a notice stating-- 18
(i) the decision; and 19
(ii) the reasons for the decision; and 20
Note-- 21
See the Acts Interpretation Act 1954, section 27B (Content 22
of statement of reasons for decision). 23
(iii) the internal review details for the decision. 24
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[s 175]
Division 6 Special provisions if mixed 1
applications 2
175 Mixed applications by dependants 3
(1) This section applies if-- 4
(a) someone died before the commencement in 5
circumstances constituting murder or manslaughter; and 6
(b) there are 2 or more dependants of the deceased person; 7
and 8
(c) 1 or more of the dependants makes an application for 9
assistance under division 3, subdivision 2; and 10
(d) 1 or more of the other dependants-- 11
(i) makes an application under section 35 of the 12
repealed Act under section 177(4); or 13
(ii) had previously made an application under section 14
35 of the repealed Act-- 15
(A) that was decided before the commencement; 16
or 17
(B) to which section 169 applies. 18
(2) The dependants who apply for assistance under division 3, 19
subdivision 2 are only eligible for assistance of up to the 20
remaining COVA pool (if any) for the deceased person's 21
death. 22
(3) For applying sections 71 and 72 to an application for 23
assistance under division 3, subdivision 2, a reference in 24
section 71(2)(a) to a victim of the same kind does not include 25
the dependants mentioned in subsection (1)(d). 26
(4) If the government assessor decides to grant assistance under 27
division 3, subdivision 2, the notice given to the applicant 28
under section 90 must also state the amount of the remaining 29
COVA pool. 30
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[s 176]
(5) To remove any doubt, it is declared that for this Act, the 1
remaining COVA pool is an assistance limit for the 2
dependants who apply for assistance under division 3, 3
subdivision 2. 4
(6) In this section-- 5
dependant means dependant as defined under schedule 3 of 6
the repealed Act. 7
prescribed amount means the amount prescribed under the 8
repealed Act for section 35(2) of that Act. 9
remaining COVA pool, for a deceased person's death, means 10
the part of the prescribed amount that has not been paid under 11
section 35 of the repealed Act to the deceased person's 12
dependants for the deceased person's death. 13
176 Mixed applications by family members 14
(1) This section applies if-- 15
(a) someone died before the commencement in 16
circumstances constituting murder or manslaughter; and 17
(b) there are 2 or more members of the deceased person's 18
family who are not dependants of the deceased person; 19
and 20
(c) 1 or more of the members makes an application for 21
assistance under division 3, subdivision 2; and 22
(d) 1 or more of the other members-- 23
(i) makes an application under section 35 of the 24
repealed Act under section 177(4); or 25
(ii) had previously made an application under section 26
35 of the repealed Act-- 27
(A) that was decided before the commencement; 28
or 29
(B) to which section 169 applies. 30
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(2) The members of the deceased person's family who apply for 1
assistance under division 3, subdivision 2 are only eligible for 2
assistance of up to the remaining COVA pool (if any) for the 3
deceased person's death. 4
(3) For applying sections 71 and 72 to an application for 5
assistance under division 3, subdivision 2, a reference in 6
section 71(2)(a) to a victim of the same kind does not include 7
the members mentioned in subsection (1)(d). 8
(4) If the government assessor decides to grant assistance under 9
division 3, subdivision 2, the notice given to the applicant 10
under section 90 must also state the amount of the remaining 11
COVA pool. 12
(5) To remove any doubt, it is declared that for this Act, the 13
remaining COVA pool is an assistance limit for the members 14
who apply for assistance under division 3, subdivision 2. 15
(6) In this section-- 16
dependant means dependant as defined under schedule 3 of 17
the repealed Act. 18
prescribed amount means the amount prescribed under the 19
repealed Act for section 35(3) of that Act. 20
remaining COVA pool, for a deceased person's death, means 21
the part of the prescribed amount that has not been paid under 22
section 35 of the repealed Act to members of the deceased 23
person's family, who are not dependants, for the deceased 24
person's death. 25
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[s 177]
Division 7 Extensions of time 1
Subdivision 1 Persons for whom period for 2
applying under repealed Act has 3
expired 4
177 Existing applications for extension under repealed Act 5
(1) This section applies if-- 6
(a) at the commencement, a person has-- 7
(i) applied to a court for an order under section 8
41(1)(a) of the repealed Act; or 9
(ii) applied to the Minister for an order under section 10
41(1)(b) of the repealed Act; and 11
(b) the application has not been finally decided before the 12
commencement. 13
(2) The entity to whom the application was made must decide the 14
application under section 41 of the repealed Act. 15
(3) For subsection (2), section 41 of the repealed Act continues to 16
apply as if this chapter had not commenced. 17
(4) If the order is made in favour of the person, despite division 2 18
or 3-- 19
(a) the person may, within the period allowed by the order, 20
make the application in relation to which the order was 21
sought under the repealed Act; and 22
(b) the application must be dealt with under the repealed 23
Act as if this chapter had not commenced. 24
(5) For subsection (4), the repealed Act continues to apply in 25
relation to the application, and any decision made in relation 26
to the application, as if this chapter had not commenced. 27
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[s 178]
Note-- 1
Division 8 provides for the application of the repealed legislation in 2
relation to an order made under section 24 of the repealed Act, including 3
an order made after the commencement. 4
(6) If the person makes an application to the State under 5
subsection (4) and at the end of 3 years after the 6
commencement the applicant has not given all the necessary 7
information, documents or other assistance to enable the 8
application to be decided, the application lapses. 9
Note-- 10
See section 36(4) to (6) of the repealed Act. 11
(7) If an application lapses under subsection (6), the applicant can 12
not make a further application under this part. 13
(8) The scheme manager must-- 14
(a) give the applicant notice of the effect of subsection (6) 15
and (7); and 16
(b) ensure all reasonable steps are taken to give the 17
applicant an opportunity to give the necessary 18
information, documents or other assistance to enable the 19
application to be decided within the 3 year period 20
mentioned in subsection (6). 21
178 Particular persons may apply for assistance 22
(1) This section applies if, at the commencement-- 23
(a) an adult who could have made an application under 24
section 33(1)(a), (b)(i) or (c) of the repealed Act in 25
relation to a personal offence is out of time; but 26
(b) 3 years after the relevant event has not passed. 27
(2) For subsection (1)(a), an adult is out of time for making an 28
application under section 33(1)(a), (b)(i) or (c) of the repealed 29
Act if-- 30
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[s 179]
(a) the period within which the adult could have made the 1
application, if this chapter had not commenced, has 2
expired; and 3
(b) the adult has not made the application within that 4
period. 5
(3) The adult can not apply for an order under section 41 of the 6
repealed Act. 7
(4) However, the adult may apply for assistance under section 160 8
as if the adult were a person mentioned in section 159. 9
(5) In this section-- 10
relevant event, in relation to an adult mentioned in subsection 11
(1)(a), means-- 12
(a) if the adult could have made the application under 13
section 33(1)(a) of the repealed Act--the end of the trial 14
for the personal offence; or 15
(b) if the adult could have made the application under 16
section 33(1)(b)(i) of the repealed Act--the finding that 17
the person who committed the act or omission 18
constituting the personal offence was suffering from 19
unsoundness of mind when doing the act or making the 20
omission, or was not fit for trial, under the Mental 21
Health Act 2000, chapter 7, part 6; or 22
(c) if the adult could have made the application under 23
section 33(1)(c) of the repealed Act--the notification of 24
the adult by the investigating police officer that the 25
person who committed the personal offence can not be 26
identified or found after appropriate inquiry and search. 27
179 Particular persons may apply for approval to apply for 28
assistance 29
(1) This section applies if, at the commencement, a person who 30
could have made a relevant COVA application in relation to a 31
personal offence is out of time. 32
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[s 179]
(2) For subsection (1), a person is out of time for making a 1
relevant COVA application if-- 2
(a) the period within which the person could have made the 3
application, if this chapter had not commenced, has 4
expired; and 5
(b) the person has not made the application within that 6
period. 7
(3) The person can not apply for an order under section 41 of the 8
repealed Act. 9
(4) However, if the person has not previously applied for an order 10
under section 41 of the repealed Act in relation to the personal 11
offence, the person may apply to the scheme manager for 12
approval to apply for assistance under division 2 or 3. 13
(5) If the scheme manager gives the approval, the person may-- 14
(a) for a person who is out of time in relation to section 24 15
of the repealed Act--apply for assistance under section 16
156 as if the person were a person mentioned in section 17
154; or 18
(b) for a person who is out of time in relation to section 33 19
or 34 of the repealed Act--apply for assistance under 20
section 160 as if the person were a person mentioned in 21
section 159; or 22
(c) for a person who is out of time in relation to section 35 23
of the repealed Act--apply for assistance under section 24
164 as if the person were a person mentioned in section 25
163. 26
(6) The scheme manager may give the approval if the scheme 27
manager considers it would be appropriate and desirable to do 28
so, having regard to the following-- 29
(a) the person's age when the personal offence was 30
committed; 31
(b) whether the person has an impaired capacity; 32
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[s 179]
(c) whether the person who allegedly committed the 1
personal offence was in a position of power, influence or 2
trust in relation to the person; 3
Examples of persons who may be in a position of power, influence 4
or trust in relation to a person-- 5
a person's parent, spouse or carer 6
(d) the physical or psychological effect of the personal 7
offence on the person; 8
(e) whether the delay in the person making the relevant 9
COVA application undermines the possibility of a fair 10
decision; 11
(f) any other matter the scheme manager considers relevant. 12
(7) The scheme manager must give the person notice of the 13
scheme manager's decision on the application for approval. 14
(8) If the scheme manager decides not to give the approval, the 15
notice must state the following-- 16
(a) the decision; 17
(b) the reasons for the decision; 18
Note-- 19
See the Acts Interpretation Act 1954, section 27B (Content of 20
statement of reasons for decision). 21
(c) the internal review details for the decision. 22
(9) This section does not limit section 178. 23
(10) In this section-- 24
relevant COVA application means-- 25
(a) an application for an order under section 24 of the 26
repealed Act; or 27
(b) an application for the payment of an amount under 28
section 33, 34 or 35 of the repealed Act. 29
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[s 180]
Subdivision 2 Persons for whom period for 1
applying under repealed Criminal 2
Code chapter has expired 3
180 Particular persons may apply for approval to apply for 4
assistance 5
(1) This section applies if, at the commencement-- 6
(a) a person who could have made a relevant Code 7
application in relation to a personal offence is out of 8
time; and 9
(b) the person has not previously made or purported to 10
make the application. 11
(2) For subsection (1), a person is out of time for making a 12
relevant Code application if, because of the application of the 13
Limitations of Actions Act 1974-- 14
(a) the period within which the person could have made the 15
application, if this chapter had not commenced, has 16
expired; and 17
(b) the person has not made the application within that 18
period. 19
(3) The person may apply to the scheme manager for approval to 20
apply for assistance under division 2. 21
(4) If the scheme manager gives the approval, the person may 22
apply for assistance under section 156 as if the person were a 23
person mentioned in section 154. 24
(5) The scheme manager may give the approval if the scheme 25
manager considers it would be appropriate and desirable to do 26
so, having regard to the following-- 27
(a) the person's age when the personal offence was 28
committed; 29
(b) whether the person has an impaired capacity; 30
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[s 181]
(c) whether the person who allegedly committed the 1
personal offence was in a position of power, influence or 2
trust in relation to the person; 3
Examples of persons who may be in a position of power, influence 4
or trust in relation to a person-- 5
a person's parent, spouse or carer 6
(d) the physical or psychological effect of the personal 7
offence on the person; 8
(e) whether the person's delay in making the relevant Code 9
application undermines the possibility of a fair decision; 10
(f) any other matter the scheme manager considers relevant. 11
(6) The scheme manager must give the person notice of the 12
scheme manager's decision on the application for approval. 13
(7) If the scheme manager decides not to grant the approval, the 14
notice must state the following-- 15
(a) the decision; 16
(b) the reasons for the decision; 17
Note-- 18
See the Acts Interpretation Act 1954, section 27B (Content of 19
statement of reasons for decision). 20
(c) the internal review details for the decision. 21
(8) In this section-- 22
relevant Code application means an application for an order 23
under section 663B of the repealed Criminal Code chapter. 24
Division 8 Compensation orders 25
181 Application of div 8 26
This division applies to an order (compensation order) for the 27
payment of compensation made by a court, whether before or 28
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[s 182]
after the commencement, under either of the following (each a 1
repealed provision)-- 2
(a) section 24 of the repealed Act; 3
(b) section 663B of the repealed Criminal Code chapter. 4
182 Compensation order continues 5
(1) Subject to section 183, the compensation order continues in 6
effect, and the repealed provision and any other provisions of 7
the repealed legislation that are necessary or convenient to be 8
applied in relation to the order continue to apply, as if this 9
chapter had not commenced. 10
(2) Without limiting subsection (2) and subject to section 183-- 11
(a) the following provisions of the repealed Act continue to 12
apply in relation to an order made under section 24 of 13
that Act-- 14
(i) section 28(2); 15
(ii) section 28(3); 16
(iii) sections 32 and 37; and 17
(b) the following provisions of the repealed Criminal Code 18
chapter continue to apply in relation to an order made 19
under section 663B of that chapter-- 20
(i) section 663B(3); 21
(ii) section 663B(4); 22
(iii) sections 663C and 663E(1). 23
Notes-- 24
Section 28(2) of the repealed Act and section 663B(3) of the repealed 25
Criminal Code chapter are about applying particular funds of a 26
convicted person towards the payment of compensation under a 27
compensation order. 28
Section 28(3) of the repealed Act and section 663B(4) of the repealed 29
Criminal Code chapter are about enforcing a compensation order. 30
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[s 183]
Section 32 of the repealed Act and section 663C of the repealed 1
Criminal Code chapter are about obtaining an amount that must be paid 2
under a compensation order from the State. 3
Section 37 of the repealed Act provides for the payment of an amount 4
under section 32 of the repealed Act from the consolidated fund. 5
Section 663E(1) of the repealed Criminal Code chapter provides for the 6
payment of an amount under section 663C of that chapter from the 7
consolidated fund. 8
183 Limitations about applications to State for payment of 9
amount payable under compensation order 10
(1) A person may apply to the State for the payment of an amount 11
in relation to the compensation order under section 32 of the 12
repealed Act, or section 663C of the repealed Criminal Code 13
chapter, only within-- 14
(a) if the compensation order was made before the 15
commencement--6 months after the commencement; or 16
(b) if the compensation order is made on or after the 17
commencement--6 months after the order is made. 18
(2) If at the end of 3 years after the commencement a person who 19
makes an application under subsection (1) has not given all 20
the necessary information, documents or other assistance to 21
enable the application to be decided, the application lapses. 22
Note-- 23
See-- 24
(a) for an application under section 32 of the repealed Act--section 25
36(4) to (6) of that Act; or 26
(b) for an application under section 663C of the repealed Criminal 27
Code chapter--section 663C(2) and (3) of that chapter. 28
(3) If an application lapses under subsection (2), the applicant can 29
not make a further application under this part. 30
(4) The scheme manager must-- 31
(a) give the applicant notice of the effect of subsection (2) 32
and (3); and 33
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[s 184]
(b) ensure all reasonable steps are taken to give the 1
applicant an opportunity to give the necessary 2
information, documents or other assistance to enable the 3
application to be decided within the 3 year period 4
mentioned in subsection (2). 5
Division 9 Provisions about amounts paid by 6
State under repealed legislation 7
Subdivision 1 Continuing State's rights 8
184 State's rights in relation to amounts paid continue 9
(1) Sections 27 and 38 of the repealed Act continue to apply, as if 10
this chapter had not commenced, in relation to an amount paid 11
by the State under part 3 of the repealed Act, whether before 12
or after the commencement. 13
(2) For subsection (1), any other provisions of the repealed Act 14
that are necessary or convenient to be used in relation to 15
section 27 or 38 also continue to apply as if this chapter had 16
not commenced. 17
(3) Section 663E(2) and (3) of the repealed Criminal Code 18
chapter continues to apply, as if this chapter had not 19
commenced, in relation to an amount paid to a person under 20
section 663C(4) or 663D(4) of the repealed Criminal Code 21
chapter, whether before or after the commencement. 22
(4) For subsection (3), any other provisions of the repealed 23
Criminal Code chapter that are necessary or convenient to be 24
used in relation to section 663E(2) or (3) also continue to 25
apply as if this chapter had not commenced. 26
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[s 185]
Subdivision 2 Recovering amount from offender 1
185 Purpose and application of sdiv 2 2
(1) This subdivision helps the State to recover from a person-- 3
(a) an amount paid by the State under section 32 of the 4
repealed Act in relation to a compensation order made 5
under section 24 of that Act against the person; or 6
Note-- 7
See section 38 of the repealed Act and section 184 for the State's 8
subrogation rights in relation to the compensation order. 9
(b) an amount paid by the State under section 663C of the 10
repealed Criminal Code chapter in relation to an order 11
made under section 663B(1) of that chapter against the 12
person; or 13
Note-- 14
See section 663E(2) and (3) of the repealed Criminal Code 15
chapter and section 184 for the State's subrogation rights in 16
relation to the order. 17
(c) an amount payable to the State under-- 18
(i) a repayment order made under section 27 of the 19
repealed Act against the person; or 20
(ii) an order made under section 38(5) of the repealed 21
Act against the person. 22
(2) This subdivision provides a way for the State to recover an 23
amount payable under an order mentioned in subsection (1) as 24
an alternative to enforcing the order. 25
(3) This subdivision applies in relation to an amount mentioned in 26
subsection (1)-- 27
(a) whether the amount was paid or became payable before 28
or after the commencement; and 29
(b) whether or not the order in relation to which the amount 30
is payable has been filed in a court for the purpose of 31
enforcing the order. 32
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[s 186]
186 Definition for sdiv 2 1
In this subdivision-- 2
relevant subrogation provision means-- 3
(a) for an amount paid by the State under the repealed 4
Act--section 38(1) or (3) of that Act; or 5
(b) for an amount paid by the State under the repealed 6
Criminal Code chapter--section 663E(2) or (3) of that 7
chapter. 8
187 No recovery if relevant agreement in force 9
(1) The State can not, under this subdivision, recover an amount 10
from a person if the State has entered into an agreement with 11
the person for the payment of the amount to the State, and the 12
agreement is still in force. 13
(2) The State can not, under this subdivision, recover from a 14
person an amount paid by the State in relation to an order 15
mentioned in section 185(1)(a) or (b) if-- 16
(a) the person against whom the order was made (offender) 17
and the person in whose favour the order was made 18
(victim) have entered into an agreement for the payment 19
of the amount to the victim by the offender; and 20
(b) the agreement is still in force. 21
Note-- 22
See the relevant subrogation provision for the State's subrogation rights 23
in relation to the agreement. 24
(3) Subsection (1) or (2) applies whether the agreement was 25
entered into before or after the commencement. 26
188 Recovery limited if amount received as subrogated victim 27
(1) This section applies if the State-- 28
(a) pays an amount in relation to an order mentioned in 29
section 185(1)(a) or (b); and 30
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[s 189]
(b) receives an amount under a relevant subrogation 1
provision in relation to the injury for which the order 2
was made. 3
(2) In deciding the amount that the State may seek to recover 4
under this subdivision from the person against whom the 5
order was made, the amount that would otherwise be 6
recoverable under this subdivision must be reduced by the 7
amount received under the relevant subrogation provision. 8
(3) If the State receives the amount under the relevant subrogation 9
provision after the person against whom the order was made 10
becomes liable to pay an amount under section 191(4)-- 11
(a) the person's liability under section 191(4) is reduced by 12
the amount received under the subrogation provision; 13
and 14
(b) the scheme manager must give the person a notice 15
stating the amount the person is now liable to pay to the 16
State (the new payable amount); and 17
(c) if the person has already paid more than the new payable 18
amount, the State must refund to the person the excess 19
amount paid. 20
189 Notice of intended recovery 21
Before the State may, under this subdivision, recover an 22
amount from a person in relation to an order mentioned in 23
section 185(1), the scheme manager must give the person a 24
notice stating-- 25
(a) the date on which the order was made; and 26
(b) the amount the person was ordered to pay under the 27
order; and 28
(c) if the State is intending to recover an amount in relation 29
to an order mentioned in section 185(1)(a) or (b)-- 30
(i) the person in whose favour the order was made (the 31
victim); and 32
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[s 189]
(ii) the amount the State paid the victim in relation to 1
the order; and 2
(iii) the part of the amount ordered to be paid under the 3
order that the State claims the person has not paid 4
to the victim, or to the State as subrogated to the 5
victim's rights and remedies under the order; and 6
(iv) the amount, if any, the State has received under a 7
relevant subrogation provision in relation to the 8
injury for which the order was made; and 9
(d) if the State is intending to recover an amount in relation 10
to an order mentioned in section 185(1)(c)--the part of 11
the amount ordered to be paid under the order that the 12
State claims the person has not paid to the State; and 13
(e) the amount the State will seek to recover from the 14
person under this subdivision; and 15
(f) that the person may-- 16
(i) by notice to the scheme manager within 28 days 17
after being given the notice, dispute the amount the 18
State will seek to recover from the person under 19
this subdivision, including, for example, by 20
disputing a claim mentioned in paragraph (c)(iii) or 21
(d); and 22
(ii) if the person does not agree with the scheme 23
manager's decision given after considering the 24
notice of the dispute--apply to QCAT for a review 25
of the scheme manager's decision; and 26
(g) that when the amount the State will seek to recover from 27
the person under this subdivision is decided as 28
mentioned in section 191(2), the person is liable to pay 29
the amount to the State under section 191(4); and 30
(h) anything else prescribed under a regulation. 31
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[s 190]
190 Disputing amount State may recover 1
(1) This section applies if a person who is given a notice under 2
section 189 disputes the amount the State will seek to recover 3
from the person under this subdivision. 4
(2) The person may, within 28 days after being given the notice, 5
give notice of the dispute (the dispute notice) to the scheme 6
manager. 7
(3) The dispute notice must state-- 8
(a) the amount the person claims that the State is entitled to 9
recover from the person under this subdivision; and 10
(b) the facts relied on by the person to support the person's 11
claim. 12
(4) After considering the dispute notice, the scheme manager 13
must decide the amount the State will seek to recover from the 14
person which may be-- 15
(a) the amount stated in the notice given under section 189; 16
or 17
(b) a lower amount. 18
(5) The scheme manager must give the person notice of the 19
scheme manager's decision. 20
(6) If the amount decided by the scheme manager under 21
subsection (4) is higher than the amount the person claims that 22
the State is entitled to recover from the person under this 23
subdivision, the notice given under subsection (5) must be a 24
QCAT information notice. 25
(7) The person may apply, as provided under the QCAT Act, to 26
QCAT for a review of the scheme manager's decision under 27
subsection (4). 28
191 Offender's liability to pay 29
(1) This section applies if-- 30
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[s 191]
(a) the scheme manager has given a person a notice under 1
section 189 (recovery notice); and 2
(b) the amount the State will seek to recover from the 3
person under this subdivision is decided as mentioned in 4
subsection (2). 5
(2) The amount the State will seek to recover is-- 6
(a) if the person has not, for the recovery notice, given the 7
scheme manager a dispute notice under section 190(2) 8
within 28 days after the scheme manager gave the 9
person the recovery notice--the amount stated in the 10
recovery notice; or 11
(b) if the person has, for the recovery notice, given the 12
scheme manager a dispute notice under section 190(2) 13
within 28 days after the scheme manager gave the 14
person the recovery notice-- 15
(i) the amount decided by the scheme manager under 16
section 190; or 17
(ii) if the person applies, as provided under the QCAT 18
Act, to QCAT for a review of the scheme 19
manager's decision under section 190--the amount 20
decided by QCAT under the QCAT Act, or by 21
another entity following an appeal against QCAT's 22
decision. 23
(3) The scheme manager must give the person a notice stating-- 24
(a) the amount (payable amount) the State seeks to recover 25
from the person under this subdivision, decided as 26
mentioned in subsection (2); and 27
(b) that, under subsection (4), the person is liable to pay the 28
stated amount to the State within a stated period of at 29
least 28 days (the payment period); and 30
(c) that, if the person does not pay the stated amount within 31
the stated period, the scheme manager may give 32
particulars of the amount to the SPER registrar for 33
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[s 192]
registration under the State Penalties Enforcement Act 1
1999. 2
(4) The person is liable to pay the State the payable amount 3
within the payment period. 4
(5) If the order mentioned in section 185(1) to which the liability 5
mentioned in subsection (4) relates is amended to reduce the 6
amount the person is ordered to pay under the order, and the 7
reduced amount is less than the payable amount-- 8
(a) the person's liability under subsection (4) is reduced to 9
the reduced amount; and 10
(b) the scheme manager must give the person a notice 11
stating the reduced amount and the effect of paragraph 12
(a); and 13
(c) if the person has already paid more than the reduced 14
amount, the State must refund to the person the excess 15
amount paid. 16
(6) If the chief executive is, under the Corrective Services Act 17
2006, paid an amount (the corrective services amount) from 18
the offender's prisoner's account, or victim trust fund, under 19
that Act-- 20
(a) the person's liability under subsection (4) is reduced by 21
the corrective services amount; and 22
(b) the scheme manager must give the person a notice 23
stating-- 24
(i) the effect of paragraph (a); and 25
(ii) the amount the person is liable to pay the State 26
after the reduction. 27
Note-- 28
See also section 188(3). 29
192 Dealing with refundable amount if assistance granted to 30
offender 31
(1) This section applies if-- 32
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Chapter 6 Repeal and transitional provisions
Part 2 Transitional provisions
[s 192]
(a) a person (offender) is liable to pay an amount to the 1
State under section 191(4); and 2
(b) the offender's liability under section 191(4) is reduced 3
under section 188(3) or 191(5); and 4
(c) because of the reduction the State must refund an 5
amount (refundable amount) to the offender; and 6
(d) under section 95, an amount of assistance granted to the 7
offender (offset amount) was taken to be paid to the 8
State for satisfying the offender's liability under section 9
191(4). 10
(2) The State must-- 11
(a) if paragraph (b) does not apply--pay the refundable 12
amount to the offender as assistance; or 13
(b) if the refundable amount is more than the offset 14
amount--pay the part of the refundable amount 15
equivalent to the offset amount to the offender as 16
assistance, and refund the remaining part of the 17
refundable amount to the offender. 18
Example-- 19
The offender becomes liable to pay $10000 to the State under section 20
191(4). The offender is granted assistance of $8000 but it is taken, under 21
section 95, to be paid to the State for satisfying the offender's liability 22
under section 191(4) (which is the offset amount). 23
The State receives $5000 under a relevant subrogation provision. The 24
person's liability to the State is reduced to $5000 under section 188(3). 25
The refundable amount is $3000, which is the difference between what 26
the offender has paid and the offender's new liability to the State. 27
Because the offender was taken, under section 95, to have paid $8000 to 28
the State for satisfying the offender's liability, the $3000 must be paid to 29
the offender as assistance. 30
(3) If, under subsection (2), an amount is paid to the offender as 31
assistance, the government assessor must-- 32
(a) decide the component of assistance for which the 33
amount is payable, having regard to-- 34
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[s 193]
(i) the components (if any) for which assistance 1
granted to the person was paid or payable under 2
section 95; and 3
(ii) the offender's needs; and 4
(iii) whether the offender has incurred any expenses for 5
which assistance has not already been paid or 6
become payable under section 95; and 7
(iv) anything else the government assessor considers 8
relevant; and 9
(b) give the offender a notice stating-- 10
(i) the decision; and 11
(ii) the reasons for the decision; and 12
Note-- 13
See the Acts Interpretation Act 1954, section 27B (Content 14
of statement of reasons for decision). 15
(iii) the internal review details for the decision. 16
193 Registration of unpaid amount under State Penalties 17
Enforcement Act 1999 18
(1) If a person who is liable to pay an amount under section 19
191(4) fails to pay the amount, or pays only a part of the 20
amount, the scheme manager may give particulars of the 21
unpaid amount to the SPER registrar for registration under the 22
State Penalties Enforcement Act 1999, section 34 as if-- 23
(a) the notice given under section 191(3) were an order of a 24
court fining a person the amount stated in the notice; and 25
(b) the scheme manager were the registrar of that court; and 26
(c) the particulars were the prescribed particulars of the 27
unpaid amount of a fine imposed by that court. 28
(2) The SPER registrar must register the particulars under the 29
State Penalties Enforcement Act 1999, section 34 and for that 30
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Chapter 6 Repeal and transitional provisions
Part 2 Transitional provisions
[s 193]
purpose that Act applies with all necessary and convenient 1
changes. 2
(3) The fine option order provisions and imprisonment provisions 3
do not apply in relation to an amount payable under section 4
191(4). 5
(4) For this section, the person who is liable to pay an amount 6
under section 191(4) fails to pay the amount if-- 7
(a) the scheme manager gives the person a notice under 8
section 191(3) about the amount; and 9
(b) the person fails to pay the amount within the period 10
stated in the notice, or a longer period agreed to by the 11
scheme manager. 12
(5) If the person's liability to pay an amount under section 191(4) 13
is reduced under section 188(3), or section 191(5) or (6)-- 14
(a) the scheme manager must give the SPER registrar notice 15
of the reduction; and 16
(b) the SPER registrar must amend the particulars registered 17
under the State Penalties Enforcement Act 1999, section 18
34 to reflect the reduction. 19
(6) In this section-- 20
fine option order provisions means the State Penalties 21
Enforcement Act 1999, section 41(c) and the other provisions 22
of that Act relating to fine option orders. 23
imprisonment provisions means the following-- 24
(a) the State Penalties Enforcement Act 1999, section 52 to 25
the extent it applies to an arrest and imprisonment 26
warrant, and the other provisions of that Act relating to 27
arrest and imprisonment warrants; 28
(b) the State Penalties Enforcement Act 1999, part 6. 29
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Part 2 Transitional provisions
[s 194]
194 Obtaining information from court 1
(1) The scheme manager may, for the purpose of the State 2
recovering an amount from a person under this subdivision, 3
ask the registrar of a court for the identifying particulars for 4
the person, including-- 5
(a) the person's full name, date of birth and gender; and 6
(b) the person's address or, if the person has been sentenced 7
to a period of imprisonment, the place at which the 8
person is being detained for the period. 9
(2) The registrar must give the requested information to the 10
scheme manager if the registrar is satisfied the information 11
will enable the State to recover an amount under this 12
subdivision. 13
(3) The registrar may give the requested information by allowing 14
the scheme manager to access an electronic database 15
maintained for the court. 16
(4) If the registrar gives the scheme manager access to an 17
electronic database as mentioned in subsection (3), the access 18
to, and the use of, the database is limited to the extent it is 19
connected with the requested information. 20
(5) The scheme manager may use information lawfully obtained 21
under this section for recovering an amount under this 22
subdivision. 23
(6) In this section-- 24
registrar, in relation to a Magistrates Court, means the clerk 25
of that court. 26
Division 10 Other transitional provision 27
195 References to repealed Act 28
If the context permits, a reference in another Act or document 29
to the Criminal Offence Victims Act 1995 may be taken to be a 30
reference to-- 31
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Victims of Crime Assistance Bill 2009
Chapter 7 Amendment of Acts
Part 1 Amendment of Corrective Services Act 2006
[s 196]
(a) the Criminal Offence Victims Act 1995 as it continues to 1
apply under this part; or 2
(b) this Act. 3
Chapter 7 Amendment of Acts 4
Part 1 Amendment of Corrective 5
Services Act 2006 6
196 Act amended 7
This part amends the Corrective Services Act 2006. 8
197 Amendment of s 319J (Definitions) 9
Section 319J, definition collection entity, paragraph (a), 10
`Criminal Offence Victims Act'-- 11
omit, insert-- 12
`Victims of Crime Assistance Act'. 13
198 Amendment of s 319U (Identification of potential 14
claimants) 15
Section 319U(1)(c) and (4), `Criminal Offence Victims 16
Act'-- 17
omit, insert-- 18
`Victims of Crime Assistance Act'. 19
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Chapter 7 Amendment of Acts
Part 1 Amendment of Corrective Services Act 2006
[s 199]
199 Amendment of s 319Z (What is an entity claim) 1
(1) Section 319Z(1), `Criminal Offence Victims Act is 2
administered'-- 3
omit, insert-- 4
`Victims of Crime Assistance Act is administered'. 5
(2) Section 319Z(1)(a)(i) to (iv), before `Criminal Offence 6
Victims Act'-- 7
insert-- 8
`repealed'. 9
(3) Section 319Z(1)(a)(i), after `order made'-- 10
insert-- 11
`, under section 24 of that Act,'. 12
(4) Section 319Z(1)(a)(v), from `chapter 65A' to `section 13
46(2)'-- 14
omit, insert-- 15
`repealed chapter 65A, section 663C,'. 16
(5) Section 319Z(1)(a)(vi), from `chapter 65A' to `section 17
46(2)'-- 18
omit, insert-- 19
`repealed chapter 65A, section 663D,'. 20
(6) Section 319Z-- 21
insert-- 22
`(1A) In subsection (1)-- 23
(a) a reference to the repealed Criminal Offence Victims 24
Act is a reference to the Criminal Offence Victims Act 25
1995, as in force from time to time before its repeal, and 26
includes that Act as it continues to apply under the 27
Victims of Crime Assistance Act, chapter 6, part 2; and 28
(b) a reference to the Criminal Code, repealed chapter 65A 29
is a reference to the Criminal Code, chapter 65A, as in 30
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Chapter 7 Amendment of Acts
Part 1 Amendment of Corrective Services Act 2006
[s 200]
force from time to time before its repeal, and includes 1
that chapter as it continued to apply under the repealed 2
Criminal Offence Victims Act 1995, section 46(2) or 3
continues to apply under the Victims of Crime 4
Assistance Act, chapter 6, part 2. 5
`(1B) The chief executive of the department in which the Victims of 6
Crime Assistance Act is administered has, for the State, a 7
claim (entity claim) against a person in relation to whom 8
relevant money is awarded (the relevant person) if-- 9
(a) an amount is payable by the relevant person to the State 10
under the Victims of Crime Assistance Act, section 11
117(4); and 12
(b) the State has not recovered the amount in full from any 13
person.'. 14
(7) Section 319Z(4), definition child support debt, note, 15
`Criminal Offence Victims Act'-- 16
omit, insert-- 17
`Victims of Crime Assistance Act'. 18
(8) Section 319Z(4), definition compensation order-- 19
omit. 20
200 Amendment of s 319ZD (Payment of eligible entity claims 21
from victim trust fund) 22
Section 319ZD(3)(a), `Criminal Offence Victims Act'-- 23
omit, insert-- 24
`Victims of Crime Assistance Act'. 25
201 Amendment of sch 4 (Dictionary) 26
(1) Schedule 4, definition Criminal Offence Victims Act-- 27
omit. 28
(2) Schedule 4-- 29
Page 172
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Chapter 7 Amendment of Acts
Part 2 Amendment of Criminal Code
[s 202]
insert-- 1
`Victims of Crime Assistance Act means the Victims of Crime 2
Assistance Act 2009.'. 3
Part 2 Amendment of Criminal Code 4
202 Act amended 5
This part amends the Criminal Code. 6
203 Amendment of s 695A (Power to protect victim of 7
violence by prohibiting publication of information about 8
proceedings) 9
(1) Section 695A(1)(a)(ii), `; and'-- 10
omit, insert-- 11
`; or'. 12
(2) Section 695A(1)(a)-- 13
insert-- 14
`(iii) hearing and deciding a proceeding for a COVA 15
application relating to an offence involving 16
personal violence; and'. 17
(3) Section 695A(7), definition proceeding for an offence 18
involving personal violence-- 19
omit. 20
(4) Section 695A(7)-- 21
insert-- 22
`COVA application means an application under the repealed 23
Criminal Offence Victims Act 1995, part 3, as applying under 24
the Victims of Crime Assistance Act 2009, chapter 6, part 2.'. 25
Page 173
Victims of Crime Assistance Bill 2009
Chapter 7 Amendment of Acts
Part 3 Amendment of Evidence Act 1977
[s 204]
Part 3 Amendment of Evidence Act 1
1977 2
204 Act amended 3
This part amends the Evidence Act 1977. 4
205 Amendment of s 131A (Court may order interpreter to be 5
provided) 6
Section 131A(2)-- 7
omit. 8
206 Amendment of s 132C (Fact finding on sentencing) 9
Section 132C(5), definition allegation of fact, paragraph (c)-- 10
omit, insert-- 11
`(c) information given to the court under the Victims of 12
Crime Assistance Act 2009, section 15;'. 13
Part 4 Amendment of Juvenile Justice 14
Act 1992 15
207 Act amended 16
This part amends the Juvenile Justice Act 1992. 17
208 Amendment of s 150 (Sentencing principles) 18
Section 150(1)(h), after `victim'-- 19
insert-- 20
Page 174
Victims of Crime Assistance Bill 2009
Chapter 7 Amendment of Acts
Part 5 Amendment of Penalties and Sentences Act 1992
[s 209]
`, including harm mentioned in information relating to the 1
victim given to the court under the Victims of Crime 2
Assistance Act 2009, section 15'. 3
209 Replacement of pt 7, div 15 4
Part 7, division 15-- 5
omit, insert-- 6
`Division 15 Application of Acts applying to 7
victims 8
`256 Victims of Crime Assistance Act 2009 etc. 9
`To remove any doubt, it is declared that the Victims of Crime 10
Assistance Act 2009, and the repealed Criminal Offence 11
Victims Act 1995 as it continues to apply under that Act, apply 12
to an offence committed by a child.'. 13
Part 5 Amendment of Penalties and 14
Sentences Act 1992 15
210 Act amended 16
This part amends the Penalties and Sentences Act 1992. 17
211 Amendment of s 9 (Sentencing guidelines) 18
Section 9(2)(c)(i)-- 19
omit, insert-- 20
`(i) any physical, mental or emotional harm done to a 21
victim, including harm mentioned in information 22
relating to the victim given to the court under the 23
Page 175
Victims of Crime Assistance Bill 2009
Chapter 7 Amendment of Acts
Part 6 Amendment of Personal Injuries Proceedings Act 2002
[s 212]
Victims of Crime Assistance Act 2009, section 15; 1
and'. 2
212 Amendment of s 172A (Distribution of reports) 3
Section 172A(1)(d), from `Criminal' to `section 5'-- 4
omit, insert-- 5
`Victims of Crime Assistance Act 2009, section 5'. 6
213 Amendment of s 172C (Review hearing) 7
Section 172C(d), from `Criminal'-- 8
omit, insert-- 9
`Victims of Crime Assistance Act 2009, chapter 2.'. 10
Part 6 Amendment of Personal 11
Injuries Proceedings Act 2002 12
214 Act amended 13
This part amends the Personal Injuries Proceedings Act 2002. 14
215 Amendment of s 6 (Application of Act) 15
(1) Section 6(5), after `damages'-- 16
insert-- 17
`or financial assistance'. 18
(2) Section 6(5)(c) and (d)-- 19
omit, insert-- 20
`(c) the Victims of Crime Assistance Act 2009; 21
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Chapter 7 Amendment of Acts
Part 7 Amendment of State Penalties Enforcement Act 1999