Who Reads Your Victim Impact Statement? (And Will the Offender See It?)

This guide is general information only and isn’t legal advice. Rules vary between states and territories. For advice specific to your situation, speak with the prosecutor, your Witness Assistance Service officer, or a community legal centre.

Before most people write a victim impact statement, they want to know one thing: who is going to read this? It’s a fair question. A victim impact statement asks you to put your most private experiences on paper. Knowing exactly where those words go, and who sees them, can make the difference between writing freely and not writing at all.

This article answers the questions people most often ask.

Will the offender see my statement?

Usually, yes. This is the hardest answer in this article, so it’s first.

In most Australian jurisdictions, the defence is entitled to see your victim impact statement before sentencing. The offender’s lawyer gets a copy, which means the offender may read it, even if it is not read aloud in court. In Commonwealth matters, the defence lawyer and the offender are entitled to see the statement before the sentencing hearing.

This exists for a legal reason. A victim impact statement is evidence the court uses in sentencing, and the person being sentenced has a right to know what evidence is before the court.

Knowing this before you write changes how some people approach their statement, and that’s okay. You are never required to share anything you don’t want the offender to read. Your statement is still powerful if you choose to hold some things back. Write what you are willing to have read by everyone in that courtroom, and keep the rest for your counsellor, your people, or yourself.

Who else reads it?

Your statement goes to a small number of people connected to the case:

•        The judge or magistrate, who uses it when deciding the sentence

•        The prosecutor, who presents it to the court

•        The defence lawyer, and through them, the offender

In some matters, the defence can challenge parts of a statement. This is rare, but it is possible the person who wrote the statement may need to give evidence about it. A judge would usually decide this.

Do I have to read it aloud in court?

No. Reading your statement aloud is a choice, not a requirement.

You can let the prosecutor know if you want some or all of your statement read aloud in court, by yourself, or by someone else on your behalf.  You can also choose to have it given to the judge in writing only, with nothing read aloud at all.

Some people find reading their statement aloud important. It can be the first time the offender is required to sit and listen. Others want no part of that, and hand the statement up in writing. Both choices are completely valid, and neither one weakens your statement.

Will my statement be made public? Can the media report it?

This is the part people are least often told. The media may report on what is said in a victim impact statement, particularly if it is read aloud in open court, because court proceedings are generally public.

In practice, media interest applies to a small fraction of cases, and there are often reporting restrictions in sexual offence and child-related matters that protect victims’ identities. But if your case has attracted media attention and this worries you, raise it with the prosecutor or your Witness Assistance Service officer before sentencing. Ask what restrictions apply in your case rather than assuming.

What if my statement is used for a compensation claim?

A victim impact statement can also support a criminal injuries compensation application. If you do this, the audience changes, and it’s worth understanding how.

A compensation claim is an administrative process, not a court case. Your application is assessed by a government scheme, not argued in front of the offender. In most states, the offender plays no part in assessing your claim.

But there is an exception to understand. Because the government may try to recover the money from a convicted offender, some schemes notify the offender that a claim was made. In Western Australia, this goes further: a convicted offender will be notified of the claim and may request and be provided with edited copies of documents submitted in support of it, which can include a victim impact statement. The decision is also sent to any convicted offender, who can appeal it, unless the Assessor orders otherwise.

Note the word edited. Identifying details like your address and contact information are not handed over. And if you are concerned that recovery action may place you at risk, you can notify the Office of Criminal Injuries Compensation, who can take that into account. Other states have similar safety processes.

The practical advice is simple: before attaching your victim impact statement to a compensation application, ask the scheme in your state what the offender can access. It takes one phone call, and it means you decide what to include with full knowledge of where it might go.

Can parts of my statement be left out?

Yes, and it’s better to know the rules before you write than to have parts removed later.

A court may not consider parts of a statement that are offensive, threatening, intimidating or harassing, that describe the crime itself in detail (the court already has this through the police evidence), or that refer to the offender’s behaviour beyond what is relevant to the sentence. In Victoria, you should also avoid saying what sentence you think the offender should get, as the court will not take inadmissible parts of your statement into account.

None of this limits what matters most. The impact on you, in your own words, is exactly what the statement is for.

Does anyone check my statement before the court sees it?

Yes. The prosecution reviews statements before they are submitted. If there is a concern that some parts of your statement will not be admissible, the prosecution team may ask to discuss it. This is normal, and it’s there to protect your statement, not to censor you. It’s much better for a sentence or paragraph to be adjusted before sentencing than challenged during it.

So how should this change what I write?

Three practical things:

Write for the whole room. Assume the judge, the prosecutor, the defence, and the offender will all read it. If there’s something you can’t put on paper knowing that, leave it out. Your statement does not need to contain everything to be honest and complete.

Stick to impact. What changed in your life, your health, your relationships, your finances, your sense of safety. This is what the court can use, and it’s also the part no one can challenge, because no one knows it better than you.

Decide about reading aloud later. You don’t have to make that choice when you write. Write the statement first. The decision about how it’s presented comes afterwards, and you can talk it through with the prosecutor or a support worker.

If you’re ready to start, Justice Draft’s free guided form walks you through your statement question by question, in your own words, at your own pace. Find a step-by-step guide on how to write a victim impact statement here.