Victims of Crime Act

The Hon. M.C. PARNELL (16:22): I seek leave to make a brief explanation before asking the leader of the government a question in her capacity representing the Attorney-General on the subject of draft amendments to the Victims of Crime Act.

Leave granted.

The Hon. M.C. PARNELL: I have recently received correspondence from a constituent who is a practising solicitor in relation to the government's draft amendments to the Victims of Crime Act. My constituent informs me that the draft amendments propose to double the maximum compensation available to extremely seriously-injured applicants from $50,000 to $100,000 but, according to my constituent's analysis, this will impact only a very small number of applicants in real terms because of the way that financial and non-financial loss is calculated and assessed by the Crown Solicitor. My constituent writes:

Payments for non-financial loss under both the old and new legislation are calculated by reference to the worst conceivable injury (a brain injured quadriplegic). If a person is only 10% as bad as the worst conceivable injury, they will receive an award calculated at one tenth the maximum under the old Act and considerably less than one tenth the maximum under the amendments.

Consequently for almost all applicants payment for pain and suffering will rise by approximately $2000 and they will only be able to achieve a higher figure if they are able to demonstrate significant medical expenses or loss of wages.

Additionally, there are some concerns over the costs accessible by legal practitioners relating to legal challenges or appeals to the Crown Solicitor's determination. In my constituent's view, it is difficult to properly assess the merits of the draft bill without the Attorney-General having provided any draft regulations concerning legal fees. My questions to the Attorney-General are:

1. Can the Attorney provide an estimate as to the number of victims who will no longer qualify for compensation due to the raising of the threshold and the consequent savings to the fund from claims no longer payable?

2. Can the Attorney-General provide an estimate of the number of claims where applicants will receive in excess of the current maximum of $50,000 and the consequent costs to the fund?

3. Will government give consideration to amending the proposed legislation so as to achieve a doubling of the compensation awarded to all victims?

The Hon. G.E. GAGO (Minister for Employment, Higher Education and Skills, Minister for Science and Information Economy, Minister for the Status of Women, Minister for Business Services and Consumers) (16:25): I thank the honourable member for his questions and will refer them to the Attorney-General in another place and present back a response.