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Legislative Council - Fifty-Fifth Parliament, First Session (55-1)
2025-10-28 Daily Xml
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Victims of Crime Fund

The Hon. C. BONAROS (15:04): I seek leave to make a brief explanation and welcome a very detailed response from the Attorney-General on an issue regarding the state's Victims of Crime Fund.

Leave granted.

The Hon. C. BONAROS: The Victims of Crime Fund, as we know, provides compensation to victims for medical expenses and economic loss, amongst other forms of compensation. The Auditor-General's Report 8 of 2025, Part C: Agency Audits, indicates that the balance of the fund as at 30 June 2025 is actually $251.2 million, a $27.3 million increase from the previous year's balance. The report indicates a total 2024-25 expenditure in victim compensation and legal payments of $29.2 million. Based on the advice I have, that is an all-inclusive figure, including financial loss and other forms of compensation payable from the fund.

The amounts recovered directly from offenders in that same period totalled $1 million. A further $8.5 million was recovered from offenders under the Criminal Assets Compensation Act 2005, and by way of levies the total Victims of Crime Fund income was a further $71.1 million and included levies of $46.3 million and revenues from the SA government of $10.4 million. Legal commentators and the Law Society have rejected the Attorney's framing of the fund as a scheme of last resort, noting of course that, for many victims who apply under the scheme, it is in fact the only resort.

A 25 per cent increase on the Auditor-General's figures of $29.2 million paid out in compensation in 2024-25 produces a figure of around $37 million overall. My questions to the Attorney are:

1. What modelling, if any, has been done to actually quantify the cost to the scheme if the 25 per cent legislative cap that currently applies was removed and legal fees were increased?

2. Does the Attorney accept that the absolute worst-case scenario, based on those figures I have just provided, can't exceed a figure of about $8 million to $10 million-odd in terms of payments, and that only a component of that $8 million to $10 million will actually go towards financial loss and legal fees?

3. Will the Attorney correct me if I am wrong and undertake to provide an accurate breakdown of expenditure on legal representation and financial loss to quantify the actual costs of removing current legislative barriers that exist on both fronts?

The Hon. K.J. MAHER (Deputy Premier, Minister for Aboriginal Affairs, Attorney-General, Minister for Industrial Relations and Public Sector, Special Minister of State) (15:08): I thank the honourable member for her questions. We don't have a current policy as a government to change the way the payments are disbursed from the fund. I think there are a couple of things that are important to keep in mind.

Yes, the payments from the fund to individuals who are victims of crime is a central component of the purpose of the fund. Considering that victims of crime is something that has been very important work in South Australia and that we have been the world leading jurisdiction in doing so, including with our victims of crime scheme and legislation, there are other things that come out of the fund, such as support for victims in the courts system, forensic and medical services counselling for victims and survivors of rape and sexual assault, amongst other things that the fund pays for.

But, really importantly, moneys have come out of the fund in relation to victims of institutional sexual abuse. The participation in our National Redress Scheme for Survivors of Institutional Child Sexual Abuse is something that the Victims of Crime Fund has been used to pay for. The former government made an initial payment of just under $150 million from the fund. Around about a year ago, in the last Mid-Year Budget Review, there was a further $135 million provided from the Victims of Crime Fund for the National Redress Scheme.

I am quite certain that there will be further calls on the Victims of Crime Fund for the National Redress Scheme. The National Redress Scheme is accepting applications up until 30 June 2027. I think there is an acceptance that there will be significant amounts of applications made in the lead-up to the closing of the scheme. It wouldn't be prudent for the government to run down the fund so that the National Redress Scheme couldn't be accounted for.

As I have said, it is in the order of hundreds of millions of dollars that have already been paid from the Victims of Crime Fund over recent years into the National Redress Scheme. I am certain we are going to have to put in more and I don't want to see a situation where we don't have the ability to do that.

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