Applications for child victims
All instructions on other pages apply to all victims of violence that happened in Queensland. The only differences for people under 18 are:
- Who can complete the application form
- How to apply
- Payment process—lump sums
- Payment process—expenses
- Timeframe
- More information
Who can complete the application form
In most cases, the person filling in and signing the application form must be an adult (over 18).
If the person who needs assistance is under 18, the application form is usually completed by their parent or legal guardian.
If your parent or legal guardian is not able to (or not wanting to) complete the application form for you and you are over 12, you can:
- ask a lawyer to help you complete your application (see Children living independently)
- ask for permission to have another adult (over 18) complete the form for you. We can help you set this up. Just send an email to VictimAssist@justice.qld.gov.au or call 1300 546 587 and ask for help. The person you choose needs to be an adult who
- knows your day-to-day needs
- will act in your best interests
- will support you throughout the application and assessment process.
Children living independently
You can only fill in the form yourself if you are over 12 years old and are represented by a lawyer.
It’s up to you which lawyer you use. They need to be an Australian legal practitioner or government legal officer, within the meaning of the Legal Profession Act 2007 or hold an equivalent overseas qualification.
Community Legal Centres Queensland may be able to help for no or low cost. Many of their lawyers have undergone specific training about helping victims of violence. They have centres all over Queensland.
If you choose to use a private law firm, the lawyer may charge a fee. You can claim legal expenses if needed.
Children under the care of Child Safety
If you are under the care of Child Safety Services, your Child Safety worker can help you make your application. You should contact them and ask for help.
How to apply
To claim financial assistance for the first time, the child's parent, guardian or other pre-approved adult needs to:
- make sure the crime has been reported to the right people—see Reporting requirements
- complete the application form and attach
- information about the child's injuries
- the parent, guardian or pre-approved adult's identity documents (not the child's).
If the child is over 12, living independently and has legal help:
- the lawyer can help the child complete the application form and attach
- information about who the crime was reported to—see Reporting requirements
- information about the child's injuries
- the child's identity documents
- a document confirming a lawyer assisted the child.
If a government worker is the child's legal guardian, they can:
- complete the application form on behalf of the child and attach
- information about who the crime was reported to—see Reporting requirements
- information about the child's injuries
- a document confirming they are the child's legally appointed guardian
- the child's identity documents
- see Victims of Crime Assistance Act 2009, section 51 and section 75 for more details.
Payment process
Lump sums
Because you are under 18, if your claim is approved and you are awarded a lump sum payment (special assistance, distress, dependency, or loss of earnings), we must give this money to the Public Trustee of Queensland to be held in trust until you turn 18.
Expenses
If your claim is approved, we will send you a ‘notice of decision’. This notice will list what we have agreed to pay for, who we will be paying and the conditions on the payment. Please don’t tell a service provider that we will pay for something before you get the notice of decision. The notice of decision will say if we will pay the cost or not.
Common payment conditions
Paid expenses
We must reimburse the person that paid the cost. This may have been you or it may have been a family member, friend, or agency. If someone else paid the cost for you, we need to pay them back. Please provide their name, phone number or email and banking information.
Unpaid expenses
In some cases, the cost hasn’t been paid yet. Please provide an invoice so we can pay the service provider directly. If it is a medical or counselling expense, we must deduct any Medicare and private health rebates first. It is important that the invoice is made out to your name. This is because you received the service or goods. The invoice should not be made out to Victim Assist.
Other conditions (if any) will be noted in your notice of decision.
Approved costs
If your claim is approved, we can pay for reasonable, medical expenses and reports fees to diagnose or treat injuries caused by violence. We can only pay out-of-pocket expenses (the gap).
Your health practitioner will need to provide a receipt, invoice or treatment plan. We will pay the rate outlined in the Victim Assist Queensland—Table of Costs or an equivalent overseas rate.
Timeframe
Due to the high number of claims already queued, it may be many months before we’re able to assess your application and pay approved expenses.
If you have an urgent expense, and meet the conditions for claiming urgent expenses, we may prioritise the assessment of these expenses. If we decide the expenses don’t meet these conditions, we’ll let you know. Non urgent expenses will be queued for general assessment within normal timeframes.
Once you receive a notice of decision and the claim is approved, electronic payments will be deposited within 10 business days. Because you are under 18, we must give this money to the Public Trustee of Queensland to be held in trust until you turn 18.