Provide information about your injuries
The information on this page is for people applying for financial assistance through Victim Assist Queensland.
We provide financial assistance to people that have been directly injured by violence that was committed in Queensland.
Types of injuries
Physical injury – An injury to your body directly caused by violence.
Examples: bruises, wounds, muscle or bone injuries, damage to teeth, brain injuries, damage to senses, pregnancy (resulting from rape), or a disease you contracted from the offender during the violence.
Psychological injury – A psychological illness, disorder, or impairment that was directly caused by violence.
Examples: depressive disorders, anxiety disorders, acute stress disorders or post-traumatic stress disorders.
Limitations: Substance abuse resulting from violence is not usually considered.
Aggravation of pre-existing conditions – A medical condition, psychological illness or disability that was made worse by the violence.
Adverse impacts – We can only consider adverse impacts (as your injury) if you have been a victim of a sexual offence that occurred after 19 December 1997 or a victim of domestic violence that occurred after 1 July 2017.
Examples: a sense of violation, reduced self-worth or perception, lost or reduced physical immunity; lost or reduced physical capacity (including the capacity to have children), increased fear or insecurity, adverse reactions from others, a negative impact on sexual relationships, a negative impact on feelings.
Supporting documents
We need to know the details of your injuries and what caused them.
We can get some information for you.
- If you had injuries at the time of the violence, we may get this information from Queensland Police Service.
- If you were treated by a paramedic, we may get this information from Queensland Ambulance Service.
- If you went to a Queensland Health service (e.g. an emergency department or sexual assault clinic), we may get this information from Queensland Health.
Sometimes you’ll have to ask for the information then provide us a copy.
- If the violence was investigated by Child Safety, you can ask them for a copy of this information.
- If you reported your injuries to a doctor, counsellor, psychologist, social worker or domestic violence support worker, you can ask them to provide one of the following:
- Victim Assist medical certificate
- Victim Assist comprehensive clinical report
- Victim Assist health practitioner examination report
- special primary victim report
- practitioner letter, or
- other medical record.
We can only consider injuries and adverse impacts that were caused by violence.
Aggravation of pre-existing conditions
The health practitioner that usually treats your pre-existing condition will need to complete a Comprehensive clinical report. This report will tell us how your condition has changed and what (if any) additional treatment or medical support you need.
Limitations
You may not be able to get financial assistance if:
- we can’t confirm your injuries or conditions were directly caused (or made worse) by an act of violence.
- you were exposed to bodily fluids (e.g. urine, saliva, blood) and you did not contract a disease or sustain a psychological injury
- your injury was caused by an accident, self-harm or a property crime
- the adverse impact you experienced was caused by a sexual offence that occurred before 19 December 1997, or domestic violence that occurred before 1 July 2017.