Some other criminal acts which occurred in Victoria may also be relevant offences depending on individual circumstances of an application. The offence must:
- be punishable by imprisonment, and
- involve assault on, or injury, or a threat of injury to a person.
The relevant offence must still have occurred in Victoria and directly resulted in the victim’s injury or death for it to be a violent act for a FAS application. This can include Commonwealth and other types of offences that involve an assault on, or injury, or a threat of injury to the victim.
The FAS will consider there to be a ‘threat’ of injury where there is a real risk of injury occurring. While the applicant does not have to show direct physical contact for there to be a threat, the FAS must be satisfied that the risk is real and not perceived. The victim’s injury must be connected to the relevant offence and can be a physical, psychological, or psychiatric injury or trauma.
However, the victim’s injury cannot be because of a loss of, or damage to property.
❌ Not eligible for the FAS Example: Joanne was visiting her friend interstate when her neighbour called her to tell her that her that her house was on fire and that they had called emergency services. Police complete an investigation and conclude that her property had been deliberately burned down. Arson is an offence punishable by imprisonment, but in this case, as Joanne was not assaulted, injured or was not at threat of injury she does not meet the definition of being a victim for the purposes of the FAS. |
✅ Eligible for the FAS Example: Mary awoke to discover that an aggravated burglary had been committed at her home overnight. She reviewed the CCTV footage of her home and saw intruders entering her property and stealing possessions. Mary had not heard these intruders and was not aware of their presence until the next morning. Even though Mary did not experience an actual assault, she did experience a relevant offence for the purposes of a FAS application because she was at threat of injury due to the presence of the offenders in her home while she was there. If Mary had been out while the offenders were at her property, there would have been no threat of injury to Mary, and she would not have experienced a relevant offence. |
❌ Not eligible for the FAS Example: Mario returned home and discovered that he had been robbed. His front door had been broken down and his computer had been stolen. Although Mario is a victim of crime, he is not a victim of crime for the purposes of the FAS. This is because he was not present at the time of the robbery and there was no threat of injury against him. |
✅ Eligible for the FAS Example: Susanna separated from her partner. Three weeks after Susanna and her partner broke up, she started to receive emails from her ex-partner that threatened to expose intimate images of Susanna online. While together, Susanna’s partner had taken these images of her with her consent. Following the threats, her ex-partner uploaded the images onto a public forum which he knew that Susanna’s friends regularly visited. This caused great anxiety for Susanna, and she began to suffer panic attacks and felt shame and stigmatised. Susanna is eligible for the FAS as she was a victim of an online violent act (being distribution of intimate images) and suffered psychological injuries. |
Updated