Payments to victims of crime

If you are a victim of crime, a Queensland court can order the person who committed the offence to make restitution or pay compensation.

A court may refer the order to us so we can collect the payment on behalf of the victim.

Collecting payments

We are committed to recovering money owed to victims of crime and will take all reasonable steps within our powers to do so under the State Penalties Enforcement Act 1999.

If an offender has multiple compensation and restitution court orders, money collected will be paid to victims in the order of priority set by the court. Also, depending on the offender’s circumstances, they may need to pay by instalments.

This means it can take time to recover the money owed to you.

Despite our best efforts, it may be difficult to collect the amount owed to you. This could be due to various reasons, such as the offender being incarcerated or unable to be located.

What we can tell you

Due to privacy and confidentiality obligations under the Act, we are limited in what we can tell you about collecting money owed to you.

We can only give you certain information about the offender, including:

• if we have contacted the offender, but no specific information about the contact
• that we may take or have taken enforcement action against the offender to recover the funds, but not the type of enforcement action
• if Queensland Corrective Services has advised us that the offender has been incarcerated
• if the offender is deceased or the company is deregistered
• if the debt has been written off.

Receiving a payment

The easiest way to receive money owed to you is by electronic funds transfer (EFT).

Electronic transfer

To receive payments by EFT, complete the form for payment to:

• an individual
• an organisation.

Send the completed form to us by email or post. You also need to include a copy of your bank statement showing your account details to confirm you are the account holder.

Email

sper@treasury.qld.gov.au

Post

The Registrar
SPER
GPO Box 1387
BRISBANE  QLD  4001

Cheque

We can also process payments via cheque. We will post a cheque to you once we have received the full amount from the offender.

We may contact you to arrange another payment if we have sent you a cheque that has not been cashed. Find out more about unclaimed funds.

If your contact details change

Make sure your contact details with us are kept up to date.

You can let us know online or by post or phone.

If you are changing your name, you need to send us a copy of the official certificate.