Victorian Consolidated Legislation

Victims of Crime Assistance Act 1996 - SECT 9

Who is a secondary victim?

9. Who is a secondary victim?



(1) A secondary victim of an act of violence is a person who is present at the
scene of an act of violence and who is injured as a direct result of
witnessing that act.

(2) A person is also a secondary victim of an act of violence if he or she is
injured as a direct result of subsequently becoming aware of an act of
violence and-

   (a)  he or she is the parent or guardian of the primary victim of the act
        of violence; and

   (b)  the primary victim of the act of violence was under the age of 18
        years at the time of the commission of that act.

(3) A person is not a secondary victim of an act of violence by virtue of
subsection (2) if he or she committed, and is criminally responsible for, that
act of violence.