Prior to submitting your application, please ensure you keep copies of all documents submitted. Once a completed application is received, you will receive an acknowledgement letter or email advising you of your matter number. Please quote this number when contacting the Office of Criminal Injuries Compensation.
A case manager and Assessor will be assigned to your application who will then start processing your claim. The case manager will request the police records or the files from the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions, depending on the offence and carry out other tasks as the Assessor directs.
The Assessor may direct the case manager to obtain records from places such as hospitals, medical centres, workers’ compensation insurers, insurance companies, courthouses, WA police and other government departmental offices.
This office will not routinely provide progress reports to you and will only contact you if further information is required from you.
In cases where an offender has been convicted of an offence for which you are claiming, they will be notified of your claim and may request and be provided with edited copies of documents submitted in support of it. The State may recover some or all of the compensation awarded from a convicted offender.
The notification process gives the offender an opportunity to raise any matters for consideration by the assessor before a decision is made. No personal information about you is provided to the offender. The Assessor may refer the offender’s submissions to you for comment.
Once all information is obtained, the Assessor will make a decision whether to award or refuse compensation. The decision will be sent to you and any convicted offender, unless otherwise ordered by the Assessor.
If applicants or convicted offenders are dissatisfied with the Assessor's decision, they have 21 days to appeal the decision to the District Court. If no appeal is lodged then payment is made to the applicant after the 21 day appeal period expires. Payment may take up to six week from the date of the award.
If an appeal is lodged then payment of an award will be withheld until the outcome of the appeal is known as the District Court may make a different decision to the Assessor.
An assessor may grant an interim payment before your claim is finalised. For incidents which occurred on or after January 2004, the Criminal Injuries Compensation Act 2003 allows a maximum of $2,250 to be paid as an interim payment for treatment, report and travel expenses only.
An interim payment can be approved by an Assessor based on an invoice or quote being provided with your application.
Once the assessor makes a decision about your application, you will be notified in writing.
If you are dissatisfied with the Assessor's decision, you may appeal to the District Court. The Assessor cannot alter their award once it is made.
Any appeal of an Assessor’s decision must be lodged in the District Court and you will be required to attend court and give evidence.
The District Court will notify the Office of Criminal Injuries Compensation (OCIC) when an appeal is lodged and payment of any award will be withheld until the appeal is finalised. The District Court will be provided with the OCIC matter file to assist with their decision making.
The District Court will review your application and may affirm the Assessors decision or allow the appeal and substitute the Assessor's decision with a new order. The District Court may also refer it back to the Assessor for reassessment.
The OCIC does not participate in the appeal proceedings and will wait for notification from the District Court of the outcome. The District Court can be contacted on (08) 9425 2128 for more information.
When an Assessor's award includes an order for future treatment expenses, the decision is based on reports/quotes you have provided with your application which outlines the treatment required and an estimate of costs.
Future treatment expenses must be used within 10 years from the date of the award. Applicants are required to undergo the treatment and submit the claim for future treatment to the Office of Criminal Injuries Compensation (OCIC) within that time. It is not possible to pre pay for treatment or release the funds for any other reason other than what the Assessor ordered.
There are two options for claiming future treatment expenses once incurred. You may either pay for the treatment yourself and then send the invoice and receipt to the OCIC to be reimbursed to you or you may have the health professional send the invoice to the OCIC so payment for the treatment may be made directly to them.
In both instances, Medicare and/or private health insurance rebates must be claimed before a payment is made as only the 'gap' expenses are paid.
The invoices must be issued in the name of the person receiving the treatment but can then be emailed to criminal.injuries@justice.wa.gov.au or posted to:
Office of Criminal Injuries Compensation
GPO Box F317
PERTH WA 6841.
Last updated: 29-Sep-2020
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