Victims of Crime Queensland

1. Person completes a Financial Assistance Application Form
   An applicant must first fill in a Financial Assistance Application Form (Form 1)
   This form can be filled in and printed off from this website. If an applicant needs help filling in a form, they can call us on our Victims of Crime Australia Hotline.
2. Doctor completes a Medical Certificate
   The applicant’s doctor (or Dentist if injury to teeth) must complete a Medical Certificate (Form 3).
   This is provided as extra evidence for your application. The Medical Certificate will be attached to your application form.
   This form can be filled in and printed off from this website.
3. If you need our assistance, send your information to Victims of Crime Australia
   All original, signed applications with the completed Medical Certificate Form and any other attachments are to be sent to Victim of Crime Australia, PO Box 146 Greenslopes, QLD, 4120.
4. Government assessor makes an initial assessment of the application
   When Victim Assist Queensland receives the application a government assessor will make an initial assessment as quickly as possible. It is a government assessor within Victim Assist Queensland that also decides the application.
   At this point, if an eligible victim has applied for interim assistance they will be contacted and informed of this assistance which will help with urgent expenses before a final decision on their application is made.
5. Government assessor makes a final assessment
   The assessor will need to gather more information on the act of violence, the expenses being claimed, the applicant or other people mentioned in the application before a grant of assistance can be decided.
   Applicants will be contacted directly by Victim Assist Queensland if any more information is required from them before the application can be decided. Applicants will be required to fill out a further form called a Claim Form, available through their assessor.
6. Victim Assist Queensland will contact the applicant with the decision
   Applicants will be informed in writing if they are eligible or not for assistance.
7. Victim Assist Queensland makes payments of assistance to eligible applicant
   Payment will be made either directly to the victim, to another person who paid for the expense, or to the provider of the services required by the victim to help their recovery.

Victims of Crime Austration Application checklist

1. Use the correct forms
   An application for assistance must be made on the approved Financial Application Form (Form 1). One of our friendly and supportive staff will fill the majority of this form out for you. The original signed will then be sent to the Victim Assist Queensland address on the application form.
2. Attach a completed medical certificate
   A medical certificate about the injury or harm caused to the applicant may be appropriate for your application. It must be completed by a registered medical professional. This may include a doctor, dentist, psychologist or psychiatrist. This will be attached to the Financial Assistance Application. The Medical Certificate is a form of evidence showing that your injury incurred occurred as a result of the act of violence.
3. Attach any supporting documents
   The application will ask for information in relation to out of pocket, urgent and immediate expenses you have incurred. Documentation which supports any allegation must also be attached to the application wherever possible. This may include receipts, quotes or invoices for past or future expenses incurred due to the act of violence.
4. Sign your consent for Victim Assist Queensland to obtain more information
   You must give your signed consent that a Victims of Crime Australia Representative can assist you with your application. Without this, we are not able to assist you with your application.
5. Proof of Identity
   The applicant will need to supply evidence as to your identity. This is done by completing a Verification of Identity Form, which must be signed by a witness of relevant qualification.

How to claim Funeral Assistance

For a person who is claiming only funeral expense assistance, they must complete a Funeral Assistance Application (Form 2)

If a related victim is also applying for assistance on a Financial Assistance Application, they can claim for funeral expenses but do not need to fill out a Funeral Assistance Application.

Receipts or invoices with the appropriate details of the payee will always be needed before funeral Assistance expense assistance can be paid.

Funeral expenses can be paid to a related victim quickly as interim assistance before the rest of the financial assistance claim is decided. This way it can reach the related victim quickly.

Time it will it take to receive a grant of financial assistance

There is no set time for how long it will take an eligible victim to receive a payment of financial assistance from Victim Assist Queensland. The time it takes will depend on each individual case but usually takes about 6 to 12 months. It can take longer if the application is incomplete or lacking the supporting documentation.

An eligible applicant can receive interim assistance before an application is decided. This is to cover urgent expenses for goods and services reasonably needed by the victim before an application is decided.

All other grants of assistance will be made to eligible victims as quickly as possible once their application has been decided.

How to help progress your application

When Victim Assist Queensland receives a Financial Assistance Application from an applicant, an initial assessment will be made quickly where an applicant has applied for interim assistance.

Each application will be different and it will take time for an assessor to gather all the information they need to make a final decision on an application, for example, more information on the act of violence or an applicant’s criminal history (s64-69). If the assessor intends to seek information on the victim’s criminal history, the applicant will be informed and their consent will be requested.

Victim Assist Queensland is committed to providing a timely service. Applicants can assist this process by providing any information required by the assessor as quickly as possible and ensuring they provide all the information required on the application forms.

How Victim Assist Queensland will pay assistance

Once an application or a grant for interim assistance or funeral expense assistance has been decided, a payment of assistance can be made.

• entirely to the applicant
• partly to the applicant and partly to a service provider who is assisting or has already assisted the applicant
• entirely to a service provider who is assisting the applicant or who has already assisted the applicant.

If the applicant is granted assistance for expenses, the assistance will not be paid until the government assessor receives a copy of an invoice or receipt for the expenses or costs of the services used.

When a person submits an application for assistance they must include the banking details of a personal account they wish any payment to be paid by Victim Assist Queensland.

An assessor will contact an applicant or service provider if any other payment details are needed.

When an application decision may need to be delayed

Victim Assist Queensland may have to delay a decision on an application if the victim is investigated by the Government assessor to be sure that the victim is eligible for all or part of the financial assistance applied for.

• If it is not clear whether the applicant was involved in a criminal activity at the time of the act of violence, the assessor may want to wait until an offenders case has been decided in court before making a decision on an application for victim assistance.

Or:

• If the act of violence is a sexual act of violence in which took place before 2009 and the offender is now awaiting conviction.

In these cases, the applicant will be kept informed of the status of their application by Victim Assist Queensland.

Withdrawing or amending an application

An applicant can withdraw or cancel their application at any time before it is decided.

An applicant can amend their application at any time before it is decided.

If the victim does not make contact with the government assessor dealing with their application for 6 months, the government assessor will give the victim written notice that they have a another 6 months to make contact with the government assessor or their application will lapse. If an application lapses, an applicant can reapply for assistance if they are still within the time limit.

If a person has been granted assistance and the person’s circumstances change or are likely to change, the person may be able to apply to Victim Assist Queensland for an amendment of the grant. For example, to change the amount of assistance granted or to change the conditions imposed on the grant.

An application to amend the grant of assistance must be made within six years after assistance was first granted or if the assistance was granted to a child, before the child turns 24. If a further payment of assistance is made it will be within the maximum amount still available to that victim for that act of violence.

Example of when a victim may want to apply to amend their grant of assistance:

‘I was a victim of crime in January 2010. I received financial assistance for psychologist appointments relating to the act of violence, between March and July 2010. I stopped going because I thought I had recovered from the effects of the act of violence. But, in January 2011 I started to experience panic attacks that my doctor thinks are related to the same act of violence in January 2010. I was referred to a psychologist again. I contacted Victim Assist Queensland again and the scheme is now providing assistance to cover my latest psychologist appointments.’

Applicants not eligible for assistance

Applicants not eligible for assistance will be notified in writing as soon as possible by a government assessor. Unsuccessful applicants will be told in writing why their application for assistance was not granted.

Even if a person/victim is not eligible for financial assistance under this particular scheme Victim Assist may be able refer them to other schemes or services that may be able to assist them. Such services may be funded by government and so be available at no cost or limited cost to the applicant.

A frequent reason victims may not be eligible is that a victim is trying to recover monies for property damage or fraud. For example; car vandalism and property theft, identity theft.

Appealing against an unsuccessful application

If a person is unhappy with a decision made regarding their application for assistance he or she is entitled to apply to the Queensland Government department seeking an internal review of the decision.

A request for an internal review must be made to the Government Department within 28 days of the person being given notice of the unsuccessful application. A request for internal review must state in detail why the person is unhappy with the original decision.

If the applicant is unhappy with the internal review decision, they may apply, as provided under the Queensland Civil and Administrative Tribunal Act 2009, to the Tribunal for a review of the internal review decision.