State should repay costs of crime, says Victim Support

Marie Knight

Victim Support groups are proposing a radical "parallel justice system" that would compensate victims for crimes even where the offending criminals can't be caught or can't pay.

They also want legal aid for victims on the same basis as offenders - a move which chief executive Marie Knight admits "would probably almost double the legal aid bill", currently $97 million a year.

The council representing the country's 77 Victim Support groups will tell an inquiry into victims' rights by Parliament's justice and electoral committee today that the justice system has "sidelined" victims' rights.

Victim Support advocates an "inquisitorial" rather than an adversarial approach for crimes such as rape, where the current system of questioning the victim in court can be "a trauma that is often as destructive as the rape itself".

It says the current system is set up to provide justice for offenders, including legal aid to help them claim that they were innocent. It did not focus on justice for victims - either giving them a chance to explain the crime's effect on their lives, or giving them safety, support and compensation to rebuild their lives.

The model comes from the US National Center for Victims of Crime.

Ms Knight said repaying victims for the costs of crime should not depend on the criminals themselves paying reparation. Reparation was ordered for only 21 per cent of property offences and 4 per cent of violent offences in 1998 - and that was only of the cases where offenders were convicted.

"It's being used more now, but quite often the judge will not order it because the offender has no way of paying it," she said.

"If property has been damaged and reparation is ordered, it's miles down the track before that happens, and then the offender can pay it back at $10 a week. It's like giving them an interest-free loan.

"At that rate, there's no way you could, for example, replace a car that you couldn't afford to insure, and yet you might need that car to get to work to earn an income."

She said the Government should repay the costs of crime to victims up front, and recover the money from offenders later.

She said victims should have the right to legal aid in drawing up their "victim impact statements" that are now required under the Victims' Rights Act 2002. They should also have state-funded, but independent advocates such as Victim Support workers - not just court victim advisers provided under the act.

"Court victim advisers are employees of the Crown. Their first responsibility is to their employer. It could be that they would end up with a conflict of interest because of a policy that isn't in victims' interests.

"A court employee couldn't come and say, 'We are not happy about this; we believe this needs to change.' They have to toe the line.

"There is a role for them in terms of providing information about hearings and things like that. We are saying it's not their role to advocate for the victims. That's our role."

Sensible Sentencing Trust founder Garth McVicar said he would be wary of creating "another bureaucratic department" for victims, but would support legal aid for them. He proposes a levy on all offenders to pay for a reparation fund.

"We believe it should be paid by the offenders" as in Canada, he said.

The justice and electoral committee inquiry was part of a deal between the Labour Party and the Greens to pass a bill last year requiring prisoners to pay reparation to their victims out of any compensation they receive for harsh treatment in jail. Today is the second day of hearings.


Victims agenda

* Give victims a chance to explain the crime's effects on their lives.
* Provide counsellors and advocates to help victims overcome their trauma and find new housing, work or whatever else they may have lost because of the crime.
* Pay for the costs of the crime, including medical costs, new locks on the door, repairing damage, and lost income.