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Applying on behalf of a victim with impaired capacity

All instructions on other pages apply to all victims of violence that happened in Queensland. The only differences for vicitms who have impaired capacity are:

Who can complete the application form

If the victim of violence is an adult with impaired capacity, the application may be made by:

  • if the victim has a guardian – the guardian
  • if the victim does not have a guardian but has an administrator – the administrator
  • if the victim does not have a guardian or an administrator – an attorney appointed by the victim under an enduring power of attorney
  • if the victim does not have a guardian or an administrator and has not appointed a person under an enduring power of attorney:
    • a member of the victim’s support network
    • someone else approved by the scheme manager.

If the application needs to be completed by ‘someone else approved by the scheme manager’, it must be an adult who knows the day-to-day needs of the victim and will act in their best interests. This person needs to contact Victim Assist and ask for permission to apply on behalf of the victim.

Is someone helping you with your application

We will always protect your personal information and will never share information about your application with anyone without your consent.

If someone other than a guardian, administrator or attorney under an Enduring Power of Attorney (EPOA) is helping you with your application, you can opt for them to give and get information about the application on your behalf, but you must give consent.

You just need to attach a short letter to your application that says who can give and get information about your application. You should include their full name and contact information.

How to apply

To claim financial assistance for the first time, the victim’s guardian, administrator, power of attorney or another pre-approved adult needs to:

Payment processes – lump sums

An approved applicant may receive a lump sum payment.

Approved primary victims will receive a special assistance lump sum payment. If claiming loss of earnings, these are also considered to be lump sum payments.

Close family members and financial dependants of homicide victims may receive a lump sum distress payment. Some applicants will also receive a lump sum dependency payment.

If the applicant is an adult who has impaired capacity for a prescribed financial matter:

  • and the claim is approved,
  • and an administrator or enduring power of attorney has been appointed,
  • the one-off lump sum payment will be paid to the administrator or person with power of attorney.

Payment process – expenses

If your claim is approved, we will send you a ‘notice of decision’. This notice will list what we have agreed to pay for, who we will be paying and the conditions on the payment. Please don’t tell a service provider that we will pay for something before you get the notice of decision. The ‘Notice of Decision’ will say if we will pay the cost or not.

Common payment conditions

Paid expenses

We must reimburse the person that paid the cost. This may have been you or it may have been a family member, friend, or agency. If someone else paid the cost for you, we need to pay them back. Please provide their name, phone number or email and banking information.

Unpaid expenses

In some cases, the cost hasn’t been paid yet. Please provide an invoice so we can pay the service provider directly. If it is a medical or counselling expense, we must deduct any Medicare and private health rebates first. It is important that the invoice is made out to your name. This is because you received the service or goods. The invoice should not be made out to Victim Assist.

Other conditions (if any) will be noted in your notice of decision.

Approved costs

If your claim is approved, we can pay for reasonable, medical expenses and reports fees to diagnose or treat injuries caused by violence. We can only pay out-of-pocket expenses (the gap).

Your health practitioner will need to provide a receipt, invoice or treatment plan. We will pay the rate outlined in the Victim Assist Queensland – Table of Costs or an equivalent overseas rate.

Timeframes

Due to the high number of claims already queued, it may be many months before we’re able to assess your application and pay approved expenses.

If you have an urgent expense, and meet the conditions for claiming urgent expenses, we may prioritise the assessment of these expenses. If we decide the expenses don’t meet these conditions, we’ll let you know. Non urgent expenses will be queued for general assessment within normal timeframes.

Once you receive a notice of decision and the claim is approved, electronic payments will be deposited into the nominated bank account within 10 business days.

Last updated:
20 November 2023
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