How to write your statement for a WA compensation claim

If you are claiming criminal injuries compensation in Western Australia, there is a point where the application stops asking for dates and reference numbers and starts asking for you. Describe the offence. Describe your injuries. Describe how they have affected your life.

For many people, that is the hardest page of the whole claim. This guide is about how to write it.

One thing first, because it changes how you approach the task. Most WA compensation claims are decided on the documents. There is usually no hearing, no day in court, no moment where you sit across from the assessor and explain. Your written statement does that job for you. It is not a formality attached to your claim. In a real sense, it is your claim.

What the statement is for

Under the Criminal Injuries Compensation Act 2003, you can be compensated for bodily harm and for mental and nervous shock, and the award can cover pain and suffering, loss of enjoyment of life, lost earnings and reasonable expenses. The maximum is $75,000 for a single offence committed since 2004, with more available where there was more than one unrelated offence.

Look at that list again. Pain and suffering. Loss of enjoyment of life. Mental and nervous shock. These are not things a medical report can fully show. A psychologist's report can confirm a diagnosis. Only you can describe what the diagnosis means at 3am, or at school pickup, or on the anniversary.

That is the job of your statement. The medical evidence proves the injury. Your statement shows the assessor the life the injury landed in.

The ten sections

Justice Draft's guided form takes people through ten sections when writing a victim impact statement. The same ten sections work for a compensation statement, and the last one is even named for the occasion: what I want the court or assessor to know. Here, the assessor is exactly who is reading.

Use them as a checklist. You do not need something under every heading, and blank sections are fine. Their real value is that they stop you forgetting a whole category of harm, because the assessor cannot weigh what you never wrote down.

How I felt at the time. Start with the offence and its immediate aftermath, in your own words. What happened, what you felt, what the first hours and days were like. The fear and pain of the event itself are part of pain and suffering, not just what came later.

Emotional wellbeing. This is where mental and nervous shock lives. Name any diagnoses and treatment, then go past the labels and describe the days. Panic attacks, nightmares, the counselling sessions, the medication, the version of yourself you are working to get back. This section should sit alongside any psychological report and bring it to life.

Relationships. Loss of enjoyment of life often shows up here first. Strain on your partner. Patience you no longer have with your kids. Friends you stopped seeing. Trust that has not come back. Write what changed between you and the people who matter.

Physical health. The injuries, the treatment, the recovery, and anything that has not healed. Connect each symptom to the offence, and keep it consistent with your medical reports. Ongoing pain and permanent effects matter to the assessment, so say plainly what is still with you.

Financial impact. This section carries the dollars, so be specific. Time off work and income lost. Jobs you could not take or keep. Medical, dental and counselling costs, travel to appointments, things you had to replace. Future treatment you know is coming. Match your figures to your receipts and payslips wherever you can. Round guesses are weaker than exact numbers with paper behind them.

Daily life and routine. The texture of loss of enjoyment of life. What you stopped doing. What now takes twice as long. The places you avoid, the sports you gave up, the sleep you plan your day around. Small details do heavy lifting here. "I stopped coaching my daughter's netball team" tells an assessor more than "my life changed."

Sense of safety. Hypervigilance, checking locks, moving house, no longer walking at night, the physical reaction when someone resembles the offender. Feeling unsafe in your own life is a real psychological consequence of crime, and it belongs in your claim.

Spiritual and cultural wellbeing. The section people most often leave out, and often one of the most significant. Disconnection from faith, community, family gatherings or country. Shame that kept you away from the people and places that usually hold you up. If the offence damaged this part of your life, write it down.

Who I was before this happened. This section does quiet, essential work. The assessor never met the before version of you, and loss can only be measured against what was there. Describe who you were. Confident, working, sleeping well, running on weekends, the one who organised the family Christmas. The contrast between that person and the one writing the statement is the size of your loss.

What I want the assessor to know. Your closing. Unlike a sentencing statement, you are not speaking to punishment here. You are telling the assessor what this has truly cost you, what recovery still requires, and anything the forms had no box for. If there is one thing you need the person deciding your claim to understand, this is where it goes.

Write it true, not big

You do not need dramatic language, and you should not reach for it. The assessor will read your statement beside your police report and your medical records, and the strongest statements are the ones where everything lines up. Plain, specific and honest beats polished every time.

Do not minimise either. Many people underplay their suffering out of habit, or because someone else had it worse. This is not a competition, and modesty in this document only shrinks your claim. If the panic attacks still come, say so. If you have not worked since, say so.

How this differs from a sentencing victim impact statement

If you wrote a victim impact statement for the offender's sentencing, you are ahead, and you should absolutely draw on it. But do not simply resubmit it, because the two documents have different readers doing different jobs.

A sentencing statement speaks to a judge about the seriousness of what was done to you, and it is not allowed to address what the sentence should be. A compensation statement speaks to an assessor about compensable loss, so the money side is not off limits. It is the point. Expand the financial detail, bring the ongoing effects up to date, and write to the assessor directly.

The other difference matters even more. A sentencing statement only exists if someone is convicted. A compensation statement exists either way. You can claim in WA even if no one was ever charged, as long as you reported the offence to police and helped with their enquiries. For victims of unsolved crimes, this statement may be the only official document that ever records what happened to you. Write it accordingly.

The practical frame around your statement

A few facts worth holding while you write. Applications are free to lodge, online through the eCourts Portal, by email, by post or in person. The time limit is three years from the offence, or the last offence if there was more than one, and late applications need a written explanation the assessor may or may not accept. Decisions often take more than a year.

Be aware that the offender is sometimes notified of a claim, and the state may seek to recover the award from them. If that possibility frightens you, you can ask the assessor not to show the offender your material, and you should get free advice before lodging. The Victim Support Service on 1800 214 655, a community legal centre or the Citizens Advice Bureau can all help, and none of them will charge you.

For the wider picture of the scheme, see our guide for victims of crime in WA.

Take your time, and watch the clock

Writing this statement can be slow. People often manage a section, step away for a week, and come back. That is a completely normal way to write about the worst thing that happened to you, and the document is better for it.

Just keep one eye on the three-year limit. The statement can be drafted gently. The application cannot be lodged late without a fight.

A gentler way to write it

Justice Draft's free tool walks you through these ten sections one question at a time, at your own pace, saving as you go. It was built for victim impact statements, and the same ten sections will organise a compensation statement just as well. Write your answers, download your draft, and place it into your application.