How to help someone write an impact statement

There is plenty of advice for people writing victim impact statements. There is not a lot of information out there for the person sitting next to them.

Maybe that's you. Your partner, your daughter, your brother, your friend. The court date is set, the form is on the table, and they keep not starting it. You want to help. You're just not sure what helping looks like.

Here is what people who work in this field would tell you, if you had one of them in your kitchen. If you're supporting someone as part of your job, we've written a separate guide for support workers.

Your job is smaller than you think

A victim impact statement has to be in the person's own words. Not only because courts expect that, but because it's the whole point of the document. The court has already heard the facts. The statement is the one place where the person harmed gets to say what it did to them, in their voice.

So your job is not to write it. Your job is not to fix it. Your job is to make it possible for them to write it. That might mean making the tea. It might mean taking the kids out for two hours. It might mean providing them the computer to write on or taking them to the library. Small jobs. Real ones.

Take the pen only if they hand it to you

Some people can say what happened but can't get it onto paper. If that's the person you're supporting, offer to type while they talk. Then type what they actually say. The exact words, in their order, including the swearing if there's swearing. Read it back to them. Don't tidy anything unless they ask you to.

This is harder than it sounds. You will hear a sentence like "I don't sleep, I just lie there" and feel the urge to turn it into something more formal. Don't. "I just lie there" is worth more to a court than any sentence you could build for them, because it is unmistakably true.

If they ask you to read a draft, read it as a listener, not an editor. Say what landed. Ask if there's anything they meant to include and didn't. Leave the spelling alone unless they want it checked. A statement that sounds like a lawyer wrote it has lost something a court can feel.

Ask, don't suggest

There's a difference between "You should put in the part about losing your job" and "Do you want to say anything about work?" The first one takes over. The second one opens a door and lets them decide whether to walk through it.

The same goes for the hard details. You might believe the court needs to hear the worst of it. That's not your call, and it's usually not necessary. By the time a statement is used in court, there has been a plea or a finding of guilt. The statement doesn't have to prove anything. It only has to be honest about impact, and impact can be described from whatever distance feels safe.

Questions that open doors

Big questions shut people down. Nobody can answer "how has this affected you," but almost everyone can answer a small question about an ordinary thing. If they're stuck, try one of these. Ask it, then stay quiet, even when the quiet gets long. One or two in a sitting is plenty.

• "Walk me through a normal Tuesday before this happened. Now walk me through one now."
• "What's the night like these days?"
• "What's the hardest part of the day?"
• "Is there anywhere you don't go anymore?"
• "Is there a sound, a place or a date on the calendar that gets to you now?"
• "Who do you see less than you used to?"
• "What's changed in your body? Sleep, appetite, headaches, trips to the doctor."
• "What has this cost you? Count the money too. Time off work, appointments, the new locks, the things you replaced."
• "What do you do now to feel safe that you never used to do?"
• "When did you last feel like yourself?"
• "What would you be doing this weekend if this had never happened?"
• "What do you wish people understood about what this did?"

When they answer, write it down in their words. The answer to a small question is usually a sentence that belongs in the statement, and it will sound like them, because it is them.

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Things that sound helpful but aren't

Correcting their memory. If their account of a detail differs from yours, let it go unless a lawyer has asked about that point. This document is about effect, not evidence.

Editing out the anger. If they're angry, the anger is information. Prosecutors and courts have processes for adjusting anything a statement isn't allowed to include, and they will do that if it's needed. You don't have to pre-censor.

Pushing through. Twenty minutes and one paragraph is a good session. The form can wait until Thursday. Statements written in short sittings are usually better than statements forced out in one long night.

If they seem guarded, there's a reason

In most Australian courts, the offender or their lawyer will see the statement. Many people know this and write accordingly. If the person you're supporting is leaving things out, or weighing every line, they are not being dismissive. They're being careful in a situation that deserves care. Follow their lead, especially if there's any ongoing fear of the person being sentenced.

If it's hard for you too

Often the crime hurt you as well. You might have been there. You might be the parent. Your grief is real, and it doesn't belong in their statement.

Two things help. The first is telling someone else how you're going. A friend, a counsellor, your GP. That way the person writing doesn't have to carry your feelings on top of their own. The second is knowing that in some circumstances, close family members can write a statement of their own. If that might be you, ask the police officer, prosecutor or witness assistance service handling the case.

On the day

If the statement will be read aloud, offer to be the practice audience. Just listen. No notes.

Then handle the ordinary things. Breakfast, water, parking, arriving early enough that nothing feels rushed. In many courts the person can read the statement themselves, have someone read it for them, or have it handed up without being read aloud at all. Whatever they choose, your job in that room is the same one you've had all along. Be there, be steady, and let the words be theirs.

If they decide not to write one

That's allowed. A victim impact statement is a choice, not a duty, and courts sentence on the whole of the evidence either way. No one is penalised for staying silent. Some people protect themselves by writing. Some protect themselves by not writing. Both are forms of strength, and the person who was harmed is the only one who gets to choose.

If they do want to write but don't know where to start, Justice Draft is a free tool that asks ten plain questions and turns the answers into a working draft. Some people use it alone. Some fill it in with someone sitting beside them. Either way, the words stay theirs.