Effectively delivering a suite of victim support services
In recognition of the extensive and often enduring impacts of crime, the Victorian Government provides a suite of support services through Victim Services, Support and Reform (VSSR). Alongside the Intermediary Program and the Child Witness Service, these programs include:
Victims of Crime Helpline
An information and referral point for all victims of reported and unreported crime, available from 8am-11pm every day of the year. Last financial year, more than 13,000 people called the Helpline for support and Victoria Police referred around 23,000 victims to the Helpline.
Victims Assistance Program
Flexible case management services meet the practical, emotional, and psychological needs of victims. Last financial year, the Victims Assistance Program supported more than 16,000 victims of crime.
Victims Register
Eligible victims can apply to receive certain information about an offender’s sentence and be supported to make submissions to the Adult Parole Board and the Post Sentence Authority. Victims on the register can also be notified if they are eligible to make claims against compensation payments from the Victorian Government to prisoners, for injuries sustained while in custody. There are nearly 1000 victims on the register.
Critical incident support
Specialist in-house capability, which can quickly and effectively be mobilised to support victims following a critical incident caused by a criminal act, such as the Bourke Street tragedies. VSSR has developed a Critical Incident Response Framework that provides a co-ordinated service response to victims and their families and identifies the types of services needed to manage the impacts of the crime over time. While the particular needs of victims may vary, support generally includes specialised trauma services, practical assistance to support victims access what they need in the immediate aftermath of an event, support through the criminal justice system and coronial proceedings and help with referrals to address other longer-term needs as they arise.
Victoria’s participation in the National Redress Scheme for Institutional Child Sexual Abuse
This scheme acknowledges that many children were sexually abused in institutions, recognises the suffering they endured, and holds institutions accountable. People who have experienced institutional child sexual abuse can gain access to a redress payment, counselling and psychological care, and a direct personal response from the responsible institution/s. While the National Redress Scheme is run by the Commonwealth Government, VSSR coordinates Victoria’s participation.
Implementing the Victim Support Workforce Capability Framework
The community expects the victim support workforce to be highly skilled and have the capabilities required to meet the diverse and changing needs of victims of crime. They expect the approach to be trauma-informed and responsive, and that it can support victims to understand and participate in multiple systems, including interaction with police and the courts. Dealing with the impacts of crime rarely occurs in a ‘straight line’ due to the nature of trauma, with some needs arising immediately after the incident and others presenting later and requiring longer-term support. Staying the course with victims is therefore critical as they endeavour to work through the harm caused to them.
In 2021, VSSR developed the Victim Support Workforce Capability Framework to guide the recruitment, training and development of its workforce. The Framework sets out a standardised and common language to describe core capabilities needed for a specialist and skilled workforce, using contemporary and evolving understandings of victimisation and trauma. The Framework will support uplift of workforce capability across victim services and guide continued investment in professional practice. Specialist practice leads have also been employed to build workforce capability in areas of complex service delivery, including in family violence victim support.
Implementation of the Victim Support Workforce Capability Framework will commence in early 2022.
Listening to the voices of victims through the Victims of Crime Consultative Committee
Victims’ lived experience of crime and the systems that respond to their experiences are at the heart of our approach to reform. The Victorian Government is committed to listening to the voices of victims of crime, including through the Victims of Crime Consultative Committee.
The Committee provides an important forum for the Minister for Victim Support and the Attorney-General to discuss improvements to policies, practices and service delivery relating to victims of crime with people with lived experience. Chaired by the Hon. Jennifer Coate AO, the Committee also includes members of the judiciary, justice agencies and service organisations. It therefore brings decision makers in the justice system to the same table as people who have lived experience of the system to consider reforms that place victims’ interests at the forefront.
The Committee has a strategic program of work and victim representatives on the Committee are regularly consulted on major policy, service and legislative reforms. In the last year, this has included reforms to the Judicial Proceedings Reports Act 1958 to allow victims of sexual assault to speak about their experiences, the VLRC’s review into improving the justice system response to sexual offences, and the design of the new Financial Assistance Scheme for victims of crime.
In 2020, the government strengthened the role of victim representatives on the Committee, including extending their terms to three years and ensuring they are remunerated. This recognises both the extensive time commitment and expertise victim representatives bring to the Committee. The current victim representatives are on the Committee until mid-2023.
More information about the Committee can be found on the Victims of Crime website.
Increasing systems accountability to victims through the Victims of Crime Commissioner
The Victims of Crime Commissioner is independent of government, the justice system and victim services and acts as a regulator. The Commissioner plays a vital role in holding agencies in the justice system accountable for how they treat victims of crime. Under the Victims of Crime Commissioner Act 2015, the Commissioner is empowered to meet with and hear from victims of crime, conduct inquiries into systemic issues within the victim services system, and provide advice to government about improvements to the justice system. The Commissioner’s Strategic Plan 2020-23 sets out the strategic direction for advocacy for improved experiences for victims of crime.
In November 2019, the government extended the Commissioner’s powers to include monitoring and reporting on justice agency compliance with the Victims’ Charter, as well as the ability to investigate individual complaints about compliance. With the additional oversight and scrutiny of the victim service system under these expanded powers, the community’s expectations for high quality, comprehensive supports are higher than ever.
In June 2021, the Commissioner announced her first systemic inquiry, which will focus on victim participation in the justice system. The inquiry is an opportunity for victims of crime to voice their views about support services and justice agencies, and what new laws, policies or programs might be needed to help victims participate in the justice system.
Independently reviewing the victim support system to inform change
The Strengthening Victoria’s Victim Support System: Victim Services Review, conducted by the Centre for Innovative Justice (RMIT University), comprehensively examined the strengths and limitations of the system. It included extensive consultations with victims of crime, specialist family violence services and sexual assault services, courts and tribunals, legal and health providers and other specialist services. The review also conducted consultations with the Victims of Crime Consultative Committee.
The review found that victim support workers perform highly specialised and skilled work, and it is the personal, one-on-one-support that makes the greatest difference to victims. However, it also found the system to be complex and fragmented, which could compound victim trauma and that of their families. The review suggests an ambitious ‘once in a generation’ reform agenda that will take time to fully consider and implement.
The first critical steps for progressing these reforms are included in this document.
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