The Victims of Crime Assistance Tribunal (VOCAT) is to be replaced with an administrative Financial Assistance Scheme to make it easier for victims of violent crime get the help they need to recover.
Announced by Minister for Victim Support, Natalie Hutchins, the Victims of Crime (Financial Assistance Scheme) Bill 2022 is to “radically transform” the process for providing financial assistance to victims.
Ms Hutchins said the Scheme was built around the needs of victims and aimed to minimise trauma, “representing the most significant change for victims of crime in 50 years”.
“Once in place, victims will no longer have to apply to VOCAT to have their applications determined,” she said.
“Under the new Scheme, applications will be simplified to make the process easier to navigate for victims, with no need for a hearing or to face perpetrators.
“Victims will be able to receive a victim recognition statement that acknowledges the effects of the crime as well as a plain language, written statement of reasons for decisions.”
Ms Hutchins said in an Australian first, the Bill would also allow victims to request a victim recognition meeting where they could talk about the harm caused to them and have their experience acknowledged by a Scheme representative, who would express their condolences on behalf of the Government.
The Minister said the eligibility for people who could apply for assistance would also be expanded to recognise Aboriginal kinship relations, LGBTIQ+ chosen families and other family members that an applicant may consider to be close family.
“The Scheme will also recognise children exposed to family violence as victims in their own right,” she said.
“The Bill also removes the current harmful practice of pooling financial assistance for bereaved families.”
Ms Hutchins said this was expected to significantly reduce trauma and conflict between family members, who would be able to seek assistance for their individual needs.
She said the reforms, expected to commence operation in the second half of 2023, also created financial assistance for harms caused by a range of criminal offences that were not currently covered by existing law, including sex offences such as upskirting, grooming and image-based abuse offences.
“Importantly, the Bill will also increase the time limit in which victim-survivors of sexual assault or family violence can make a claim from two years to 10 years and provides an oversight role for the Victims of Crime Commissioner,” Ms Hutchins said.
