Parent secondary victim claims
A parent can claim financial assistance if they have been injured by learning that violence was committed against their child (under 18) in Queensland.
Who can claim
A parent can claim financial assistance for their recovery expenses if the parent was psychologically injured because an act of violence was committed against their child (under 18).
We define parent as the child’s:
- birth parent
- adopted parent
- step-parent
- approved carer (other than a temporary carer).
A parent may also be:
- a person who is the parent under Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander custom
- a person in whose favour a parenting order is in force under the Family Law Act 1975 (Cwlth)
- a person who otherwise has the right and responsibility to make decisions about the child’s daily care.
A parent does not include:
- a person standing in the place of a parent of a child on a temporary basis, or a person granted a temporary order in relation to a child
- the chief executive (child protection).
Types of expenses
You can ask us to pay for:
- medical and counselling expenses (including report expenses)
- travel to medical and counselling appointments
You can claim a range of special expenses if, because of your circumstances or the nature of the crime, the violence has had an unusual, special or out of the ordinary effect on you. We call these ‘exceptional circumstance’ expenses. This may include:
How to claim
To claim financial assistance for the first time, you need to:
- report the violence
- complete the application form and attach
If you need to add a new expense to an application you have already submitted, use our online form.
Note: If you are parenting under Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander custom and you don’t have official parenting documents, you can attach a letter from an Elder confirming you are the parent.
Claiming your child’s expenses
Don’t forget to make a primary victim application for your child and include their recovery expenses on their application.
If your child’s claim is approved, we will pay for their recovery expenses. We will also set aside a recognition payment (sometimes called special assistance). The special assistance money will be held by The Public Trustee of Queensland until the child turns 18.
Payment process
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 someone 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.
Once you receive your notice of decision and your claim is approved, electronic payments will be deposited into your nominated bank account within 10 business days.
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.
Timeframe
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 your notice of decision and your claim is approved, electronic payments will be deposited to your nominated bank account within 10 business days.