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Published: September 25, 2025

Who can access Victim Assist?

If you’re supporting a community member that has experienced violence in Queensland, they may be eligible for financial assistance from Victim Assist.

Victim Assist isn’t available to all victims of crime, and it doesn’t cover all the costs someone might have after experiencing violence. However, for people eligible, it can provide important financial assistance that supports their recover.

Victim Assist Queensland is a legislative schemed designed to give financial support to victims of violence crimes. When you apply to Victim Assist, the assessors are looking to see if you meet the eligibility requirements that are set out in the legislation. If an application doesn’t establish that the victim-survivor is eligible, Victim Assist will deny financial assistance.

Therefore, it’s important to aware of what Victim Assist consider when determining eligibility.

When deciding an application, Victim Assist is required to assess if the victim-survivor:

  • experienced an act of violence
  • in Queensland
  • that caused an injury; and
  • that they have reported to an appropriate body.

The victim-survivors may be ineligible for assistance in certain circumstances. We discuss the eligibility requirements in more detail below.

What type of violence? What do I need to include?

Victim Assist supports victims of violent crimes in Queensland. The legislation uses the phrase ‘act of violence’ and defines it to include crimes, or a series of crimes, that cause injury. This includes:

  • domestic and family violence;
  • physical assaults (for example, punching, kicking, spitting, or stabbing);
  • cruelty or neglect of a child;
  • sexual assault;
  • grooming children;
  • stalking, harassment and intimidation;
  • armed robbery;
  • rape; and
  • attempted murder.

The type of violence a community member has experienced is important for two reasons:

  1. Victim Assist need to receive evidence that the victim-survivor has been the victim of a violent act. If they do not have enough evidence, they may not approve an application; and
  2. If Victim Assist approves the community members application, the amount the person receives as special assistance is initially determined by the category of violence they experienced. For example, serious assault is a category C act of violence while domestic violence is a category B act of violence. Victim-survivors of category C acts receive $6,000 while victim-survivors of category B receive $9,000.

Even though the violence must be a crime, for experiences of violence after 2009, the perpetrator does not need to be convicted or even charged by the police for the victim-survivor to be eligible for assistance.

Domestic and family violence was included as a crime from 1 July 2017. Domestic violence experienced before this date will not be eligible for Victim Assist. However, the violence experienced by a victim-survivor as part of the domestic violence may be eligible. For example, if a person’s partner strangled them and the offence occurred before 1 July 2017, they would not be eligible as a victim of domestic violence but may be eligible as a victim of strangulation.

What is included as an injury?

Victim Assist need to be satisfied that the victim-survivor suffered an injury as a result of the act of violence. In some circumstances, this will be self-evident on the documents Victim Assist collects from other government departments when considering the application. For example, they may get police records or hospital reports that clearly show the community member was injured in the violence.

If there aren’t records that Victim Assist can access to establish that the victim-survivor was injured, they may ask the victim-survivor to provide documents or records that establish that they were injured.

When accessing eligibility, Victim Assist only needs to confirm that the victim-survivor was injured. Victim Assist doesn’t need to establish the extent of the injury to confirm eligibility. However, the nature and extent of the injury may impact how much special assistance payment a person receives or what additional expenses they are granted.

Victim Assist can request medical records from Queensland hospitals; however, they may not request information from hospitals for every application.  Therefore, it is helpful include information about injuries, even where you have provided information about the victim-survivor attending a hospital after the experience of violence.

If Victim Assist does not have enough information about the victim-survivor’s injury, they will request further information from the victim-survivor directly. If the victim-survivor cannot be reached or does not respond in time to Victim Assist’s request for further information, the application will lapse, and the victim-survivor will not receive financial assistance until the information is provided.  In some circumstances where the application lapses a victim-survivor will need to apply again.

 

Injury has been defined broadly and includes:
  • bodily injury;
  • mental illness or disorder;
  • intellectual impairment;
  • pregnancy; or
  • disease.
For sexual or domestic violence, injury can also include the following adverse impacts:
  • sense of violation
  • reduced self-worth or perception
  • lost or reduced physical immunity
  • lost or reduced physical capacity (including the capacity to have children), whether temporary or permanent
  • increased fear or increased feelings of insecurity
  • adverse effect of others reacting adversely to the person
  • adverse impact on lawful sexual relations
  • adverse impact on feelings

For sexual or domestic violence, the applicant will be a special primary victim. These adverse impacts can be outlined in the Special Primary Victim Report as proof of injury.

Some victim-survivors may not have any evidence of an injury. They may not have reported the matter to the police, or gone to hospital, or disclosed the violence at the time it occurred. They may first disclose the violence may years later.

You may want to consider how you can support the community member to gather this evidence. A victim-survivor can speak to a doctor, counsellor, psychologist, social worker or domestic violence support worker to ask them to provide evidence of the injury or impact of the violence, even if the act of violence was many years ago.

Victim Assist has forms that help professionals to provide this evidence.

If the victim-survivor is a special primary victim, you or a colleague may be able to complete a Special Primary Victim Report as proof of injury.

What if the violence did not occur in Queensland?

To be eligible for assistance, the act of violence must have occurred in Queensland.

If the act of violence occurred in a different state or overseas, Victim Assist will not approve the application.

Other Australian States and Territories have a similar scheme to Victim Assist Queensland. If your client tells you about their experience of violence interstate, you can look into whether they can apply to the other State’s scheme.

New South Wales

Victim’s Support Scheme (link to website here)

Victoria

Victims of Crime Financial Assistance Scheme (link to website here)

South Australia

Victims of Crime (link to website here)

Western Australia

Criminal Injuries Compensation (link to website here)

Northern Terrirtory

Victims of Crime (link to website here)

Julie sought the help from a housing service after leaving a violent relationship. Most of the violence Julie experienced occurred while living in NSW but it continued after they moved to Queensland.

Julie is eligible for financial assistance from Victim Assist for the violence that occurred in Queensland. Victim Assist won’t consider the violence that occurred in NSW. Julie may also be eligible for financial assistance from the NSW Victim’s Support Service.

Who do you need to report the violence to?

Victim Assist will only approve an application for assistance where the victim-survivor has reported to the police or, if they are a special primary victim, a counsellor, psychologist, doctor, or domestic violence service.

For many victim-survivors, reporting the act of violence to the police may be a barrier to applying for assistance. The options for special primary victims to report to other professionals is designed to make the scheme accessible for victims that do not want to report to the police.

Victim-survivors are also expected to assist police in their investigations.

If you are supporting a community member that is not a special primary victim but is unable to report to the police, they should get legal advice about their options.

In order to be eligible to apply to Victim Assist, the act of violence will need to be reported to:

  • a police officer; or
  • if your client is a special primary victim – a police officer, counsellor, psychologist, doctor, or domestic violence service.

Your client will be a special primary victim if they:

  • experienced sexual violence;
  • were under 18 at the time of the violence;
  • experienced domestic or family violence;
  • have impaired capacity;
  • experienced violence by a person who was in a position of power, influence or trust in relation to the person when the violence occurred (such as a person’s parent, spouse or carer); or
  • is being threatened or intimidated by the perpetrator of violence, or by someone else.

These reports will provide evidence that an act of violence has occurred. Reports to police or hospitals can be obtained through a right to information or administrative access request.

Who is precluded from applying?

A client will not be eligible for Victim Assist if:

  • the person committed or conspired the violent act against them; or
  • the person’s involvement in a criminal activity is the only reason, or the main reason, the act was committed against the person.

George was meeting with Carl to sell drugs to them. During this meeting, Carl arrived with a group of people. This group attacked George, took the drugs and left. George made an application to Victim Assist. He was held to be ineligible for Victim Assist as the violence occurred when George was committing a crime.