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Home » Publications » Review of the Victims of Crime Assistance Act 1996: Supplementary Consultation Paper (html)

Contents

    • Preface
    • Call for submissions
      • What is a submission?
      • What is my submission used for?
      • How do I make a submission?
      • Assistance
      • Publication of submissions
      • Confidential submissions
      • Anonymous submissions
    • Terms of reference
      • First terms of reference
      • Supplementary terms of reference
    • Glossary
    • Summary
      • Introduction
      • Matters addressed in Part Two
      • Part Three: options for broader reform
    • Questions
      • Chapter 5 Eligibility for assistance
      • Chapter 6 Assistance available
      • Chapter 7 Time limits for making an application
      • Chapter 8 Making an award
      • Chapter 9 Review, variation and refund of awards
      • Chapter 10 Timeliness of awards
      • Chapter 11 VOCAT hearings
      • Chapter 12 Awareness of VOCAT and accessibility
      • Chapter 13 Victim needs
      • Chapter 14 Approach 1: Reforming the existing scheme
      • Chapter 15 Approach 2: Is there a need for a different model?
    • 1. Background
      • Introduction
      • First terms of reference
      • Supplementary terms of reference
      • The Commission’s approach
    • 2. Victim support and financial assistance available for victims of crime
      • Introduction
      • Victims’ rights in Victoria
      • Victoria’s victim assistance system
      • Statutory financial assistance for victims of crime
      • Recent reviews and reforms
    • 3. The Victims of Crime Assistance Act 1996
      • Introduction
      • Policy intent of the Act
      • Overview of the Act
      • Purpose and objectives of the Act
      • Who is a victim under the Act?
    • 4. The Victims of Crime Assistance Tribunal
      • Introduction
      • Establishment of VOCAT
      • The structure of VOCAT
      • Specialisation within the VOCAT structure
      • The procedure and process of VOCAT
      • VOCAT demand
    • 5. Eligibility for assistance by VOCAT
      • Introduction to Part Two
      • Introduction to Chapter 5
      • Who is eligible?
      • Discussion and options for reform
    • 6. Assistance available under the Victims of Crime Assistance Act
      • Introduction
      • What assistance is available?
      • Discussion and options for reform
    • 7. Time limits for making an application to VOCAT
      • Introduction
      • Time limits under section 29 of the Act
      • Discussion and options for reform
    • 8. Making a VOCAT award to victims of crime
      • Introduction
      • When can an award be made?
      • Discussion and options for reform
    • 9. Review, variation and refund of awards by VOCAT
      • Introduction
      • Review of VOCAT decisions
      • Refund of VOCAT awards
      • Variation of an award
      • Discussion and options for reform
    • 10. Timeliness of awards made by VOCAT
      • Introduction
      • VOCAT application requirements
      • The decision-making process
      • The time frame for decision making
      • Interim awards
      • Discussion and options for reform
    • 11. VOCAT hearings and evidentiary processes
      • Introduction
      • The hearing process
      • Restricting publication and use of VOCAT application material
      • VOCAT determinations without hearing
      • Discussion and options for reform
    • 12. Awareness and accessibility of VOCAT
      • Introduction
      • Victims’ access to VOCAT
      • Awareness of the scheme and VOCAT
      • Accessibility of the scheme and VOCAT
      • Discussion and options for reform
    • 13. The needs of victims of crime
      • Introduction to Part Three
      • Introduction to Chapter 13
      • Understanding the impacts of crime on victims
      • What are victim needs?
      • When is financial assistance most useful?
    • 14. Approach 1: Reforming the existing scheme
      • Introduction
      • The purpose and objectives of the Act
      • Discussion and options for reform
    • 15. Approach 2: Is there a need for a different model?
      • Introduction
      • Is the current scheme meeting the outcomes specified in the supplementary terms of reference?
      • Discussion and options for reform
    • 16. Conclusion
    • Appendix A: Summary of key issues—
      Family Violence and the Victims of Crime Assistance Act 1996 (first consultation paper)
      • Introduction
      • Eligibility for assistance
      • Assistance available
      • Form and timing of applications
      • VOCAT hearings
      • Making an award
      • VOCAT procedures and time frames
      • Review, variation and refund of awards
      • VOCAT awareness and accessibility
      • VOCAT—beyond financial assistance
      • Fulfilment of the purpose and objectives of the Act

Review of the Victims of Crime Assistance Act 1996: Supplementary Consultation Paper (html)

  • Published on August 28, 2017
Victims of Crime assistance report cover

This was the second consultation paper for the VLRC’s 2017 review of the Victims of Crime Assistance Act 1996. In this paper the VLRC considers the operation and effectiveness of the Act and the Victims of Crime Assistance Tribunal (VOCAT) for all victims of crime, and asks questions to guide public submissions.

  • Preface
  • Call for submissions
  • Terms of reference
  • Glossary
  • Summary
  • Questions
  • 1. Background
  • 2. Victim support and financial assistance available for victims of crime
  • 3. The Victims of Crime Assistance Act 1996
  • 4. The Victims of Crime Assistance Tribunal
  • 5. Eligibility for assistance by VOCAT
  • 6. Assistance available under the Victims of Crime Assistance Act
  • 7. Time limits for making an application to VOCAT
  • 8. Making a VOCAT award to victims of crime
  • 9. Review, variation and refund of awards by VOCAT
  • 10. Timeliness of awards made by VOCAT
  • 11. VOCAT hearings and evidentiary processes
  • 12. Awareness and accessibility of VOCAT
  • 13. The needs of victims of crime
  • 14. Approach 1: Reforming the existing scheme
  • 15. Approach 2: Is there a need for a different model?
  • 16. Conclusion
  • Appendix A: Summary of key issues—
    Family Violence and the Victims of Crime Assistance Act 1996 (first consultation paper)
  • Appendix C: VOCAT Application for Assistance Form

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The Hon. Anthony North KC

Chairman

The Chairperson of the VLRC is the Hon Tony North KC. Mr North is a former judge of the Federal Court and the Supreme Court of the Australian Capital Territory. Admitted to the Victorian Bar in 1976, he was appointed Queen’s Counsel in 1989. In 1995, Mr North was made judge of the Federal Court of Australia, where he served until his retirement in 2018. He also served, from 2004, as additional judge of the Supreme Court of the ACT. During his time as judge, Mr North presided over cases involving constitutional and commercial law, industrial and employment law, taxation, intellectual property and native title. He holds a Bachelor of Arts and Bachelor of Laws with Honours from the University of Melbourne and a Master of Laws from the University of London. In January 2024 Mr North was appointed a Commissioner of the Yoorrook Justice Commission and took leave from the VLRC to fulfil that role until March 2025.

Past Commissioner Example

Bio goes here

Dr Vivian Waller

Director and Principal Solicitor, Waller Legal

Dr Vivian Waller was admitted to legal practice in 1995. She is the Director and Managing Partner of law firm Waller Legal. She has 25 years experience representing survivors of institutional child sexual abuse including litigation in the Supreme Court of Victoria and the High Court of Australia. Dr Waller was instrumental in the Royal Commission into the Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse where she represented 20 survivor witnesses in case studies inquiring into the Melbourne Response, Victorian State Wards, Yeshiva Bondi and Melbourne, Catholic Church Authorities in Ballarat and the Criminal Justice System. She has written submissions for the Royal Commission and appeared before the Senate Committee in relation to the establishment of the National Redress Scheme. Dr Waller represented, on a pro bono basis, the complainant in the criminal prosecution and appeals process in relation to allegations against Cardinal George Pell. She holds a Doctorate in Law from the University of Melbourne, and a Bachelor of Laws and Bachelor of Arts (Honours) from Monash University. Dr Waller was appointed to the Victorian Law Reform Commission in November 2020.

Dan Nicholson

Executive Director, Criminal Law, Victoria Legal Aid

Dan Nicholson is the Deputy Victorian Ombudsman. Before that he was the Executive Director, Criminal Law at Victoria Legal Aid, responsible for the delivery of legally aided criminal law services across the state. Dan worked with VLA since 2012 in a range of roles, including as the Executive Director, Civil Justice, Access and Equity. Dan previously managed the Human Rights Unit at the Victorian Department of Justice, was Associate to Justice Maxwell, President of the Court of Appeal and worked at Fitzroy Legal Service. He has worked on a range of human rights issues in Cambodia and Timor-Leste. Dan was appointed to the Victorian Law Reform Commission in September 2018, and as a Director of the Sentencing Advisory Council in 2021.

Professor Bernadette McSherry

Commissioner

Emeritus Professor Bernadette McSherry holds an honorary position in the Melbourne Law School, having served as the Foundation Director of the Melbourne Social Equity Institute at the University of Melbourne from 2013 to mid-2021. She is an internationally recognised legal academic in the fields of criminal law and mental health law and is a Fellow of the Academy of Social Sciences in Australia as well as a Fellow of the Australian Academy of Law. She served as a Legal Member of the Victorian Mental Health Tribunal for 18 years until mid-2018 and is currently a Commissioner serving on the Royal Commission into Victoria’s Mental Health System. She was appointed to the Victorian Law Reform Commission in June 2018.

Kathleen Foley SC

Commissioner

Kathleen Foley SC is a barrister with a broad practice spanning public law, commercial law and common law. She also has a significant public interest litigation practice, representing clients in environmental, police tort and human rights cases. In addition to her work as a barrister, Kathleen is a writer and gender equality advocate.

She was appointed to the Victorian Law Reform Commission in November 2020. Prior to commencing at the Victorian Bar, Kathleen worked as an attorney in New York and as a solicitor in the government sector in Western Australia.

The Hon Jennifer Coate AO

Commissioner

The Hon Jennifer Coate has held a number of judicial appointments including Magistrate, Deputy Chief Magistrate, the inaugural President of the Children’s Court of Victoria, Judge of the County Court of Victoria, the first female State Coroner of Victoria, and Judge of the Family Court of Australia. She served for five years on the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse, and in 2020 conducted an Inquiry into Hotel Quarantine in Victoria. In January 2019, she was made an Officer of the Order of Australia. She was admitted as a Fellow of the Australian Academy of Law in May 2022, and was awarded Doctor of Laws (honoris causa) by Monash University in September 2023. Ms Coate is the Chair of the Victorian Victims of Crime Consultative Committee. She was appointed to the Victorian Law Reform Commission in June 2020 and reappointed for four years in July 2022. She served as Acting Chair of the VLRC from January 2024 to March 2025.

 

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