Primary Victim
A Primary Victim of an act of violence is a person who
receives a compensable injury, or dies, as a direct result of
that act.
A Primary Victim of an act of violence extends to a person
who receives a compensable injury, or dies, as a direct result
of:
- tried to prevent another person from committing that
act; or
- tried to help or rescue another person against whom that
act is being committed or has just been committed; or
- tried to arrest another person who is committing, or has
just committed, that act.
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Secondary Victim
A Secondary Victim of an act of violence is a person that
received a compensable injury as a direct result of witnessing
the act of violence that resulted in the compensable injury
to, or death of, the Primary Victim of that act.
A Secondary Victim of an act of violence extends to a
person who receives a compensable injury as a direct result of
subsequently becoming aware of the act of violence that
resulted in the compensable injury to, or death of, the
Primary Victim of that act, but only if:
- the person is the parent or guardian of the Primary
Victim of that act; and
- the Primary Victim was under the age of eighteen (18)
years at the time of the act; and
- the person did not commit that act.
The person is taken, for the purposes of this act, to have
witnessed the act of violence.
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Family Victim
A Family Victim of an act of violence is a person who is,
at the time that the act is committed, a member of the
immediate family of a Primary Victim of that act who has died
as a direct result of that act. It is immaterial whether or
not the person suffers a compensable injury in connection with
the act of violence or death.
A member of the immediate family of a Primary Victim
is:
- the Victim's spouse; or
- the Victim's de fact spouse, or partner of the same sex,
who has cohabited with the Victim for at least two (2)
years; or
- a parent, guardian or step-parent of the Victim; or
- a child or step-child of the Victim or some other child
of whom the Victim is a guardian; or
- a brother, sister, step-brother or step-sister of the
Victim.
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ELEMENTS OF STATUTORY COMPENSATION
Once it is established that you are an eligible victim you
must then go on to establish the elements of victims
compensation. Those elements are:
- Act of violence against the Victim;
- Compensable injury;
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Act of violence against the victim
An act of violence means an act or series of related acts,
whether committed by one or more persons:
- it has apparently occurred in the course of the
commission of an offence; and
- it has involved violent conduct against one or more
persons; and
- it has resulted in the injury or death to one or more of
those persons.
Violent conduct extends to sexual assault and apprehended
domestic violence.
An act is related to another act if both of the acts were
committed against the same person and, in the opinion of the
Tribunal or Compensation Assessor, both of the acts were
committed at approximately the same time or were, for any
other reason, related to each other. However, an act is not
related to an early act in respect of which an award of
statutory compensation has been made if it occurs after the
aware was made. The purposes of the act, a series of related
acts, whether committed by one or more persons, constitute a
single act of violence.
To establish this first element you must:
- report the matter to the Police; and
- must fully co-operate with the Police.
Unless you satisfy (a) or (b) you will disqualify yourself
from any statutory compensation.
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Compensable injury
A compensable injury defined in Schedule 1 of the Act.
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COMPENSATION THAT IS PAYABLE
Compensation payable to Primary Victims
The statutory compensation for which a Primary Victim of an
act of violence is eligible comprises of compensation for
compensable injuries received by the victim as a direct result
of the act of violence and compensation for financial loss
incurred by the victim as a direct result of any such
compensable injury.
A Primary Victim who dies ceases to be eligible for
statutory compensation. Any pending Application for
Compensation made by or on behalf of a Primary Victim does not
survive the death of the Primary Victim.
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Compensation payable to Secondary Victims
The statutory compensation for which all Family Victims are
together eligible is $50,000.00
If there are two (2) or more Family Victims of an act of
violence the Victims are eligible to an equal share of the
amount of $50,000.00. Note Victims who are not dependent
family members at the time of the act of violence are not
eligible for any amount of compensation if there are also
dependent family members at the time.
A Family Victim is a dependent family member if the person
was wholly or mainly dependent on the Primary Victim's income
at the relevant time or the person is a child of the Primary
Victim born after the death of the victim where, had the child
been born in the victim's lifetime, the child would have been
a dependent family member of the victim by virtue of the fact
that he/she would be wholly or mainly dependent on the Primary
Victim's income.
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Compensation for financial loss
Compensation for financial loss is compensation for the
following:
- actual expenses;
- actual loss of earnings;
- loss of personal effects (in a case of Primary Victim
only).
Compensation for actual loss of earnings is to be
calculated at the rate of weekly payment of compensation
payable under the Workers Compensation Act 1987 after the
first twenty six (26) weeks of incapacity within the meaning
of that Act.
The maximum amount of compensation for financial loss to
which a person is entitled in respect of an act of violence is
$10,000.00.
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Maximum amount of compensation
The maximum amount of statutory compensation payable to a
single person in respect to an act of violence is
$50,000.00.
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Threshold amount of compensation
Statutory compensation is not payable to a single person
unless the total amount of compensation payable to that person
is at least $2,400.00 or such amount as is fixed by
proclamation.
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Special payments for counselling of victims
A victim who is eligible for statutory compensation may
apply for payment for approved counselling services (services
provided by a professional Counsellor chosen from a list of
Counsellors designated) for the victim as a consequence of an
act of violence.
A victim is entitled to an initial period of two (2) hours
of counselling (including counselling for the purposes of an
application for continued counselling of for statutory
compensation).
The victim is entitled to payment of such further periods
of counselling (not exceeding twenty (20) hours) as a
Compensation Assessor considers appropriate. Payment for any
further period of counselling exceeding twenty (20) hours may
be made only with the approval of the Director.
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Persons not eligible for statutory compensation
A Secondary Victim or Family Victim is not eligible to
receive statutory compensation if the Primary Victim through
him or she is claiming is not eligible, or if the Primary
Victim had not died would not have been eligible, to received
statutory compensation.
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Claimants for court compensation awards
A person is not eligible to receive statutory compensation
in respect of an act of violence if the person has been paid,
or is entitled to be paid, compensation awarded by a Court in
respect of that act under Part 4 or if the person's
application for such compensation is pending.
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Motor vehicle accidents
A person is not eligible to receive statutory compensation
in respect of an act of violence if that act took the form of,
or the injury arose as a consequence of, a motor accident
within the meaning of the Motor Accidents Act 1988.
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Offenders
A person is not eligible to receive statutory compensation
in respect to an act of violence if it occurred while a person
was engaged in behaviour constituting an offence.
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Convicted inmates
A person is not eligible to receive statutory compensation
in respect to an act of violence if it occurred while a person
was in prison as a convicted inmate within the meaning of the
Correctional Sentenced Act 1952 (unless the person was in
prison only because of the person's failure to pay a pecuniary
penalty). An exception to ineligibility of convicted inmates
is found under Section 24(5) of the Victims Compensation Act
1996.
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APPLICATIONS
Lodging of Applications
An Application must be in the form required by the
compensation rules. An Application can be obtained by calling
the Victims Compensation Tribunal and asking for an
Application.
An Application must be accompanied by such documentary
evidence (such as medical certificates) as may be required by
that form and must be lodged with the Director.
An Application for statutory compensation must be duly
lodged within two (2) years after the relevant act of violence
occurred or, in the case of Family Victims, within two (2)
years after the death of the Primary Victim.
An Application that is lodged out of time may only be
accepted with the leave of the Director.
Medical examinations
A Compensation Assessor may require an Applicant for
statutory compensation to undergo an examination (not being an
examination that is unreasonable, unnecessarily repetitious or
dangerous) by a duly qualified medical practitioner, or duly
qualified psychologist, specified by the Assessor or by duly
qualified medical practitioner or duly qualified psychologist
belonging to a class of medical practitioners, or class of
psychologists, specified by the Assessor.
The cost of any such examinations are to be paid for out of
the compensation fund.
Determination of Applications
After considering an Application for statutory compensation
the Compensation Assessor must determine the Application by
making an award of statutory compensation or by dismissing the
Application.
An award of statutory compensation must not be made unless
the Compensation Assessor is satisfied on the balance of
probabilities that the person to whom the application for
compensation relates is a Primary Victim, Secondary Victim or
Family Victim of an act of violence and is eligible to receive
the amount of compensation provided by the aware.
Written notice is to be given to the Applicant of the
determination of the Application.
Costs of Applications for Compensation and proceedings
before Tribunal
An Applicant for statutory compensation is entitled to be
paid his or her costs in respect of the Application in
accordance with such scale of costs as may be prescribed by
the compensation laws.
Appeals and references to Tribunal and District
Court
An Applicant for statutory compensation who is agreeable to
determination of a Compensation Assessor in respect of the
Application may appeal to the Tribunal against the
determination.
An appeal may be made:
- within the period of three (3) months after the day on
which the relevant notice of determination made by the
Compensation Assessor or Director was duly served on the
person; or
- within such further time the Tribunal may in exceptional
circumstances may allow.
Appeals to the District Court on questions of
law
An Application for statutory compensation may, with the
leave of the District Court, appeal to the District Court on a
question of law arising in any determination of the
Application by the Tribunal. An appeal by a person to the
District Court may be instituted:
- within the period of three (3) months of the day on
which the relevant notice of the determination made by the
Tribunal was duly served on the person; or
- within such further time as the District Court may in
exceptional circumstances allow.
For the purposes of an appeal to the District Court, the
following matters are not questions of law:
- a determination of whether an injury for which
compensation has been claimed is an injury specified in the
schedule of compensable injuries or whether it is a
compensable injury of a particular description specified in
that schedule;
- a determination of whether a series of acts are related
and constitute a single act of violence.
An appeal does not apply against the decision of the
Tribunal to refuse leave for a late application for statutory
compensation.
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