Victim Impact Statements in Western Australia: A Complete Guide

If you are going through the court process in Western Australia, a victim impact statement is your chance to be heard. It is your account, in your own words, of how a crime has affected you. The judge or magistrate reads it before deciding the sentence.

This guide covers everything you need to know about writing and submitting one in WA. It also explains what happens to your statement after sentencing, how it connects to criminal injuries compensation, and where to find help along the way. It is written for the person actually going through this, not for lawyers.

What a victim impact statement is in Western Australia

A victim impact statement tells the court how a crime has affected your life. In WA it sits under the Sentencing Act 1995, and it is available to victims of personal offences and family and domestic violence offences. You make it after a person has pleaded guilty or been found guilty, and the court takes it into account when sentencing.

There is no set style in WA. You write it in your own way, then sign and date it. The government publishes a Word guide you can download to help with structure, but your own signed statement is accepted. Making a statement is your choice, and if you decide not to, the court will not assume the crime had little or no impact on you.

One thing to know early: sentencing can happen straight after a person is found guilty, or the court may set a later date. Your statement needs to reach the court before sentencing, so start it as soon as you know a guilty plea or verdict is likely.

Who can make one in Western Australia

You can make a victim impact statement if you suffered injury, loss or damage as a direct result of the offence. It does not matter whether the offender could have foreseen that harm. If the offence caused someone's death, any member of the immediate family of the person who died can make a statement.

What to put in, and what to leave out

Your statement is about impact, not evidence. The court already has the facts of the crime, so you do not need to retell what happened. Your job is to describe the effect it had on you.

In WA, that can include your physical injuries and any ongoing treatment. The effect on your relationships, your work and your social life. The emotional impact on you and your family. A picture of your life before the crime and your life now. The financial cost, including lost wages, medical and counselling expenses, travel costs and damage to property. If the crime caused a death, you can talk about the person who died and the life they led.

WA also lets you include something most states do not: a request for the court to consider compensation or restitution. If money matters to your recovery, you can say so in your statement.

Leave out your opinion on what the sentence should be, because the law says a statement must not address that, and keep it concise while still covering everything that matters. Two honest things to know before you write. Three copies of your statement go to the court, one each for the judge or magistrate, the prosecutor and the offender's lawyer, and the offender usually gets to see it. And because the prosecutor may read parts of it aloud and the judge may quote it when sentencing, people in the courtroom, sometimes including the media, can hear what you wrote. Write with that audience in mind.

For a fuller walkthrough of what to include and how to structure it, see our guide on how to write a victim impact statement.

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How to write and submit it in Western Australia

Where your statement goes depends on which court is sentencing the offender. If the case is in the Magistrates Court or Children's Court, you deliver your original statement and two copies to the court before the sentencing date. If the case is in the District Court or Supreme Court, your statement goes to the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions.

You do not have to handle any of that alone. The Victim Support and Child Witness Service can help you write your statement, arrange translation if English is not your first language, give you feedback by email at vss@justice.wa.gov.au, and forward the finished statement to the court for you.

Reading it aloud

You can read your statement aloud to the court yourself, or have the prosecutor read some or all of it on your behalf. If you choose to read it, the court can put protections in place. The offender can be kept out of your view, certain people can be excluded from the courtroom, you can have a support person with you, and you can even read it by video link from outside the courtroom. Tell the prosecutor what you would prefer, and they will raise it with the judge or magistrate, who makes the formal decision.

Your statement after sentencing: parole

In WA, your statement has a life after the sentence. If a victim impact statement was submitted to the court, the court must provide a copy to the Prisoners Review Board once the offender is sentenced, so the Board already has your account when parole is considered.

You can also make your own submission to the Board about parole, either directly or through the prosecutor or the Victim Support Service with your written consent. That submission can cover how the offender's release would affect you and any conditions you want on a parole order, and it is not shown to the prisoner. To be told when parole hearings are coming up, register with the Victim Notification Register on (08) 9425 2870.

How your statement connects to money you may be owed

Western Australia's criminal injuries compensation scheme is one of the most generous in the country, and the account of harm you write for court is the same account the scheme asks for.

Criminal injuries compensation

The scheme runs under the Criminal Injuries Compensation Act 2003. You apply to the Office of Criminal Injuries Compensation, and an independent assessor decides your claim on the papers, so there is usually no hearing to attend. A few things are worth knowing.

• You can be compensated for physical injury and psychological injury, pain and suffering, loss of enjoyment of life, treatment costs including the cost of reports, future treatment you are likely to need, lost earnings, and personal items you were wearing when you were injured. Close relatives of a person killed by an offence can claim funeral expenses and loss of financial support.
• The maximum award is $75,000 for offences committed from 2004, with lower caps for older offences. The maximum applies per offence if the offences are unrelated, while offences that happened at about the same time are treated as one.
• You do not need anyone to have been convicted, identified or even charged, as long as you reported the offence to police and assist with any investigation. The exception is an acquittal, since a claim generally cannot proceed if the accused was found not guilty for any reason other than unsoundness of mind.
• The time limit is three years from the offence, or from the last offence if there was more than one. Assessors can accept late applications where it is just to do so, and they regularly do, particularly for psychological injury from childhood sexual abuse.
• The assessor usually notifies the offender that an application has been made. If that would put you at risk, tell the Office of Criminal Injuries Compensation so they can manage it.
• You are paid by the state, and the state then tries to recover the money from the offender without involving you. If you cannot wait, interim payments of up to three per cent of the maximum are available for expenses you have already incurred. If you disagree with the decision, you can appeal to the District Court within 21 days.
• There is no application fee, you can lodge online through the eCourts Portal or by email, and assessments take time, often more than a year, so lodge early and be patient.

The scheme does not cover stolen or damaged property in general, though the court can make a reparation order for property offences, and you can apply for one in writing within 12 months of sentencing. Injuries from motor vehicles sit with the Insurance Commission of WA instead, and families bereaved by homicide can also access the Homicide Assistance Payments Scheme.

The statement of impact

Here is the part that makes WA different. The compensation application formally asks you for a statement of impact, your own written account of how the offence has affected you physically, emotionally, socially and financially. There is no prescribed format. It can be a signed statement, a letter to the assessor, or even dot points, typed or legibly handwritten, as long or as short as you like, and someone else can prepare it for you in your words if you cannot. The assessor relies on this document when deciding the amount you receive.

Assessors also take your victim impact statement into account, alongside medical reports and other evidence. So in WA the work genuinely carries over. The statement you write for the court and the statement of impact you write for compensation are close to the same document, and writing one well means the other is nearly done.

Support services in Western Australia

You do not have to face any of this alone. These are the main services in WA, what they do, and how to reach them.

• The Victim Support and Child Witness Service helps you prepare your victim impact statement, supports you through court, and can lodge your statement for you. Email vss@justice.wa.gov.au or find them through the Department of Justice's Court Counselling and Support Services.
• The Sexual Assault Resource Centre (SARC) provides 24 hour crisis support, medical care and counselling. Call 1800 199 888 any time.
• Crisis Care is the Department of Communities' after hours line for people in crisis, including family and domestic violence. Call 1800 199 008.
• The Women's Domestic Violence Helpline is available 24 hours on 1800 007 339, and the Men's Domestic Violence Helpline on 1800 000 599.
• Legal Aid WA gives free legal information and advice, including on criminal injuries compensation. Call the Infoline on 1300 650 579.
• The Women's Legal Service WA supports women in crisis or facing disadvantage. Call 1800 625 122.
• National lines: 1800RESPECT on 1800 737 732 for sexual assault and family violence, Lifeline on 13 11 14 for crisis support, and 13YARN on 13 92 76 for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander callers.

Quick answers

Who do I give my statement to?

It depends on the court. Magistrates Court or Children's Court matters go to the court itself, with an original and two copies, before the sentencing date. District Court or Supreme Court matters go to the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions. The Victim Support and Child Witness Service can lodge it for you either way.

Can I read my statement aloud in court?

Yes. You can read it yourself or have the prosecutor read some or all of it. If you read it, the court can keep the offender out of your view, let you have a support person, or set up a video link so you can read from outside the courtroom.

Does the offender see my statement?

Usually, yes. Three copies go to the court, and one of them goes to the offender's lawyer. Knowing that before you write helps you decide what you are comfortable including.

Can I ask for compensation in my statement?

Yes. WA lets you include a request for the court to consider compensation or restitution. The main path to money is still the criminal injuries compensation scheme, which is a separate application with awards of up to $75,000.

How long do I have to claim criminal injuries compensation?

Three years from the offence, or from the last offence if there was more than one. Assessors can accept late applications where that is just, and extensions are regularly granted, especially for psychological injury from childhood abuse.

How Justice Draft helps in Western Australia

The hardest part of a victim impact statement is usually the blank page. Justice Draft was built for exactly that, here in WA. Our free guided questions take you through it one step at a time, in plain language, and turn your answers into a finished statement you can print, sign and date. WA has no set style, so your own signed statement is accepted by the court. Give it to the court or the ODPP before sentencing, or ask the Victim Support and Child Witness Service to lodge it for you.

And because WA's compensation scheme asks for a statement of impact built on the same account of harm, the work you do here does double duty. If you want guided help with the compensation application itself, that is what our Compensation Companion was built for, with its fee deferred so nothing is due up front.

A final word

There is no perfect victim impact statement. You are aiming for honest, in your own words. What happened to you mattered, and Western Australia gives your words real reach. The court hears them at sentencing, the Prisoners Review Board holds them for parole, and the compensation assessor relies on them when deciding what you are owed. One honest account, told once, working for you three times.