How to Write a Victim Impact Statement in New South Wales

If you are going through the court process in New South Wales, 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 NSW. It also explains how your statement connects to compensation and financial support, 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 NSW

A victim impact statement tells the court how a crime has affected your life. In NSW it sits under the Crimes (Sentencing Procedure) Act 1999. It is considered at sentencing, after a person has pleaded guilty or been found guilty, and before they are sentenced. It gives the court a fuller understanding of the harm the crime caused. It can also be made where mental illness is a factor and the court finds the act proven but the person not criminally responsible.

Making one is your choice. If you decide not to, the law is clear that the court must not treat that as meaning the crime caused you little or no harm.

Who can make one in NSW

There are two main types of victim who can make a statement. A primary victim is the person the offence was committed against, or someone who witnessed the violence, the sexual offence, the death, or the bodily harm. A family victim is a member of the immediate family of someone who died as a direct result of the crime. Immediate family is defined broadly, and includes partners, parents, grandparents, children, grandchildren, siblings, and, for proceedings from May 2019, a wider group including aunts, uncles, nieces, nephews and kin recognised under Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander kinship.

Victim impact statements are used mainly in serious matters, such as offences causing death or actual bodily harm, sexual offences, and offences like coercive control. They are available for some matters in the Local Court, but not all, so if your matter is there, ask the prosecutor early whether you can make one. More than one person can make a statement in the same case.

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 describe what happened. Your job is to describe the effect it had on you, including physical injury, emotional and psychological harm, and any economic loss that followed.

There are firm limits on what you can include. You can only write about the impact of the crimes the offender was actually convicted of, not other offences, and not past matters where there was no conviction. Do not give your opinion on the offender's character, and do not suggest what sentence they should receive or what the court should take into account. Do not include claims about medical conditions unless you have evidence to support them. A statement cannot be offensive, threatening, intimidating or harassing, and it is a statement to the court, not a letter to the offender. The prosecutor reviews your statement and must remove anything that is not allowed before handing it to the court, and they will work through any changes with you. Importantly, the prosecutor cannot give your final statement to the court without your permission. 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 NSW

You can make your statement in writing or speak it. It does not have to be typed, but it needs to be legible. It can be as short as you like, up to a limit of 20 A4 pages, and that limit includes anything you attach, such as medical reports. When it is ready, keep a copy.

You give your statement to the prosecutor, usually through the Witness Assistance Service at the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions. Where possible, aim to have it in at least ten days before the sentencing hearing, though be aware timing can be tight. In the Local Court you may have only hours, and in the District or Supreme Court sometimes only a few days, so ask the prosecutor how long you have. Once it is handed to the court, the offender and their lawyer are entitled to read it, and it becomes part of the court record, which means the media may report on it. The rules protecting the identity of children and victims of sexual offences still apply. A witness assistance officer can help you prepare it. If your matter is in the Local Court and run by a police prosecutor, note that they cannot help with the content of your statement, but other support services can.

Reading it aloud

Reading your statement to the court is optional. You can read it yourself, ask someone to read it for you, have the prosecutor read it, or simply have it handed up to the judge. You can also choose to read only part of it. You can have one or more support people near you while it is read. In sexual offence matters, the court is closed while your statement is made, and if you were entitled to give your evidence by closed-circuit television or audio-visual link, you can make your statement the same way. If your statement is read in open court, the media can report on it. Family members making a statement may need to take an extra step for it to be taken into account, and the prosecutor or witness assistance officer will guide you through that. Talk to them early about what will be most manageable for you.

How your statement connects to financial compensation

In NSW there are two separate ways to seek financial compensation after a violent crime, and your statement connects to both. Neither happens automatically through your victim impact statement, so it is worth knowing how each works.

The Victims Support Scheme

NSW runs the Victims Support Scheme under the Victims Rights and Support Act 2013, administered by Victims Services. It assists people injured by a violent crime, and the families of people who have died as a result of one. It also covers victims of modern slavery, and family members of someone who died as a result of a road crime. You do not need a charge or a conviction to receive support. The evidence just needs to show that an offence occurred. The scheme provides several kinds of help.

• Counselling, up to 22 hours for primary and secondary victims, and more for some. There is no time limit to apply for counselling.
• Financial assistance for immediate needs, up to $5,000, for urgent health, safety or security costs. This includes a support package for victims of domestic violence who need to relocate or install security.
• Financial assistance for economic loss, up to $30,000, to cover things like lost earnings, medical and dental costs, and other out-of-pocket expenses. It also covers loss or damage to clothes or items you had on you at the time, up to $1,500, and the costs of attending court and other justice related expenses, up to $5,000. A parent, step-parent or guardian caring for a child injured by a violent crime can also claim economic loss that flowed from it.
• A recognition payment, a lump sum that depends on the offence. It ranges from $1,500, for offences such as assault, robbery involving violence, sexual touching and attempted sexual assault, up to $15,000 for financially dependent immediate family and children of homicide victims.

Time limits depend on your situation, and they are more generous than people expect. For immediate needs and economic loss, you generally have two years from the crime, or two years from turning 18 if you were a child at the time, and if you were sexually assaulted as a child there is no time limit to claim out-of-pocket and justice related expenses. For recognition payments, a victim of sexual assault can apply at any time, a victim of domestic violence or child abuse has ten years, counted from turning 18 if they were a child, and other victims generally have two years. Because these limits change and vary, it is worth confirming yours with Victims Services.

Two more practical things are worth knowing. You can lodge your application first and provide your medical, dental or counselling report up to twelve months later, so do not wait on paperwork to apply. And the report of the crime does not have to be a Police report. A report to a government agency, or to a support service funded to help victims of crime, can count, which matters for people who never felt able to go to Police.

You apply to Victims Services, online or by post, and you can have a friend, family member, support worker or lawyer help you. If you receive support and the offender is convicted, the Commissioner of Victims Rights can recover that money from them. That restitution action happens between the government and the offender, through Revenue NSW, and it does not reduce what you receive.

Compensation ordered by the court

Separately, when it convicts an offender, a NSW court can direct that money be paid to you out of the offender's property. There are two kinds of direction. For the injury the crime caused you, the court can direct up to $50,000. For financial loss, such as money or property taken from you, the cap is much higher, up to the court's own civil limit, which in the District Court is $750,000. The court can act on its own or on an application, and a direction cannot double up on economic loss the Victims Support Scheme already covers.

Two honest things to know about this path. A direction works like a civil debt against the offender's property, so if they have little or nothing, collecting can be slow or incomplete, and enforcing it is a civil process rather than something the state does for you. Even so, it matters, and for fraud and theft especially it can be the most direct route to real money, because those crimes are not covered by the Victims Support Scheme. If you think a direction might apply, tell the prosecutor before sentencing.

Do you need your statement for a compensation claim?

This is a common question, and the honest answer in NSW is no for one path, and it helps with the other.

For the Victims Support Scheme, you do not need a victim impact statement, and the application does not ask for one. The scheme decides your claim on its own form and the evidence behind it, the report of the crime and your medical or counselling evidence. You can apply whether or not you ever make a statement to the court, and whether or not anyone is charged or convicted.

For compensation directed by the court, a statement is not required, but it helps. The direction is made by the same court that receives your statement, and the court needs to understand your injury and loss. Your statement, alongside medical evidence and receipts, puts exactly that in front of the judge. So if you want a direction considered, say so to the prosecutor before sentencing, and let your statement do double duty.

How it fits together

Your victim impact statement, a claim to the Victims Support Scheme, and a request for compensation are separate processes, but they rest on the same thing: a clear, honest account of how the crime harmed you. The evidence overlaps, since medical reports and receipts support all of them. It is worth knowing that the scheme even covers the cost of attending court as a justice related expense, so the effort of taking part is recognised. The scheme also does not require a conviction, while your statement is used at sentencing after one, so they can happen at different points. Your witness assistance officer can help with your statement, and Victims Services can help with your claim.

Support services in New South Wales

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

• Victims Services offers free and confidential information, advice, counselling and financial support through the Victims Support Scheme, and can help you understand the process. Call the Victims Access Line on 1800 633 063, or the Aboriginal Contact Line on 1800 019 123.
• The Witness Assistance Service, within the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions, supports victims and witnesses in serious matters and helps with preparing victim impact statements.
• The NSW Domestic Violence Line provides 24-hour counselling and referrals for women and those who identify as female experiencing domestic and family violence. Call 1800 656 463.
• The NSW Sexual Violence Helpline, run by Full Stop Australia, offers counselling for people of all genders affected by sexual assault. Call 1800 424 017.
• The Women's Domestic Violence Court Advocacy Service gives free support to women dealing with domestic violence and the court and protection order process, anywhere in NSW. Call 1800 938 227.
• Legal Aid NSW provides free legal help and information. Call 1300 888 529.
• 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

Is there a page limit for a victim impact statement in NSW?

Yes. Up to 20 A4 pages, and that includes anything you attach, such as medical reports.

Can the prosecutor give my statement to the court without my permission?

No. Your final statement cannot be handed to the court without your permission.

Do I have to read my statement aloud in court?

No. You can read it yourself, have someone read it for you, have the prosecutor read it, or have it handed up without being read. In sexual offence matters, the court is closed while it is made.

Do I need a police report to apply for victims support?

Not always. A report to a government agency, or to a funded victim support service, can count, and there does not need to be a charge or a conviction.

Do I need a victim impact statement to claim victims support?

No. The Victims Support Scheme is a separate application. A statement does help if you want the court to direct the offender to pay compensation, because both happen at sentencing.

How Justice Draft helps in New South Wales

The hardest part of a victim impact statement is usually the blank page. Justice Draft was built for exactly that. 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 then give it to the prosecutor or your witness assistance officer. Because a claim for financial support rests on the same account of how you were harmed, the work you do here carries over to that as well.

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 NSW gives you a real place to say so, both to the court and, separately, towards getting some support to recover.