By James Stevens, Director and Solicitor, Go To Court Lawyers. Last reviewed 20 April 2026.
Key points
- The NSW Victims Support Scheme helps victims of violent crime that happened in NSW. No one needs to be charged or convicted.
- Primary victims: up to 22 hours of counselling, up to $5,000 for immediate needs, up to $30,000 for economic loss, and a recognition payment of $10,000, $5,000 or $1,500 by type of violence.
- Witnesses, and parents hurt on learning their child was injured, get counselling only.
- Families of a homicide victim: counselling, $5,000 immediate needs, up to $9,500 for the funeral, $5,000 for court costs, and for some a $15,000 or $7,500 recognition payment.
- Time limits: none for counselling; 2 years for money; 10 years for recognition payments for domestic violence, sexual assault or child abuse; any time for sexual assault of a child.
- A police report is not essential: a report from a victims' support or government agency can do. Review: within 90 days; recognition payments can then go to NCAT.
- For a lawyer, call 1800 577 015 at any hour: free general legal information, and a 60-minute consultation with a NSW lawyer for a fixed $295.
In NSW, a primary victim of a violent crime committed in NSW can receive counselling, up to $5,000 for immediate needs, up to $30,000 for economic loss and a recognition payment of $1,500 to $10,000 from the Victims Support Scheme, without anyone being charged or convicted.
Checked on 23 October 2026 against the NSW Government's Victims Support Scheme pages, the Victims Support Act 2013 (called the Victims Rights and Support Act 2013 until it was renamed by a 2025 Act) in the NSW Parliament's copies of the Act and its 2018, 2024 and 2025 amending Acts, NCAT and Legal Aid NSW. The NSW legislation website could not be read that day, so the dollar amounts and time limits come from the scheme's own pages.
Who can apply
| Who | Meaning | What they can get |
|---|---|---|
| Primary victim | A person injured or killed as a direct result of an act of violence, including while trying to stop it, help the victim or arrest the offender | Counselling, immediate needs, economic loss and a recognition payment |
| Parent, step-parent or guardian caring for a child primary victim | The adult caring for an injured child | Economic loss (sharing the child's $30,000 limit) |
| Secondary victim | A person injured by witnessing the act, or a parent or guardian injured on learning their child was injured | Counselling only |
| Family victim of a homicide | Spouse; de facto partner of at least 2 years; parent, step-parent or guardian; child or step-child; brother or sister, including half- and step-siblings | Counselling, immediate needs, funeral costs, justice-related costs, and for some a recognition payment |
| Other relatives of a homicide victim | For example grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins, in-laws | Counselling only |
| Family of a person killed in a road crime (deaths from 1 February 2023) | Where charges are laid, or cannot be laid because the driver died or is unknown | Up to 22 hours of counselling |
| Victims of modern slavery (after 1 January 2022) | The same support as primary victims |
What a primary victim can get
| Support | Amount |
|---|---|
| Counselling | Up to 22 hours (more for victims of child sexual or physical abuse, families of homicide and road-crime victims, or for exceptional reasons) |
| Financial assistance for immediate needs: locks, moving, alarms, emergency medical and dental bills, crime-scene cleaning | Up to $5,000 (domestic violence victims who must relocate or add security can use the Immediate Needs Support Package within the same $5,000) |
| Financial assistance for economic loss: total | Up to $30,000 |
| Lost earnings | Up to $20,000 |
| Out-of-pocket expenses, if you had no lost earnings | Up to $5,000 |
| Doctor, dentist and other medical bills | Up to $30,000 |
| Clothes worn or items carried at the time | Up to $1,500 |
| Attending court or coronial proceedings, and other justice-related costs | Up to $5,000 |
| Recognition payment | $10,000, $5,000 or $1,500 by type of violence (below) |
Further expenses can be claimed for 5 years after the financial assistance application, or until the money is used.
Recognition payments
| Amount | Who, or what violence |
|---|---|
| $15,000 | Family victims of a homicide who were financially dependent on the person killed, or that person's children who were under 18 at the death |
| $7,500 | Parents, step-parents or guardians, and current spouses or de facto partners, of a homicide victim |
| $10,000 | Sexual assault causing serious bodily injury, or involving several offenders or an offensive weapon; sexual assault, a sexual act or attempted sexual assault as part of a series of related acts |
| $5,000 | Other sexual assault; attempted sexual assault causing serious bodily injury; assault causing grievous bodily harm; physical assault of a child as part of a series of related acts |
| $1,500 | Attempted sexual assault without serious bodily injury; sexual touching; a sexual act where the victim was under 16; robbery involving violence; assault not causing grievous bodily harm |
Not every act of violence has a recognition payment category. Only one payment is made for a series of related acts. Payments to under-18s are held by NSW Trustee and Guardian until they turn 18.
Families of a homicide victim
| Support for family victims of a homicide | Amount |
|---|---|
| Counselling | Up to 22 hours |
| Immediate needs (relocation, security, medical, cleaning, some travel) | Up to $5,000 |
| Funeral costs | Up to $9,500 |
| Attending court or coronial hearings | Up to $5,000 |
| Recognition payment | $15,000 or $7,500 (brothers and sisters are in neither group unless financially dependent) |
A separate Bondi Beach Victim Recovery Payment applies to the terrorist attack of 14 December 2025: $35,000 for eligible primary victims injured by a bullet or shrapnel, and up to $75,000 for each family group of those killed, less their recognition payments. Apply through the scheme by 13 December 2027.
Who is not eligible
- The violence must have happened in NSW. Fraud, theft and property damage are generally not acts of violence.
- Not eligible: a person already paid, or entitled to be paid, compensation ordered by a court for the same act; injuries from a motor accident (apart from the homicide and road-crime rules above); a person who was committing an offence at the time; convicted inmates, except in special circumstances.
- Support can be reduced or refused because of the victim's own behaviour, including past criminal activity, taking part in the act, not helping police, not reducing the loss, or money received from other sources. Late reporting to police is no longer a listed reason.
Time limits
| Support | Time limit |
|---|---|
| Counselling | None |
| Immediate needs and economic loss | 2 years after the act; a child victim, 2 years after turning 18 |
| Economic loss, for a victim of sexual assault as a child | No limit for out-of-pocket and justice-related expenses |
| Recognition payment | 2 years; a child victim, 2 years after turning 18 |
| Recognition payment for domestic violence, sexual assault or child abuse | 10 years; a child victim, 10 years after turning 18 |
| Recognition payment for sexual assault of a child | Any time |
| Family victims of a homicide | 2 years from when the death was established as a homicide; a child, 2 years after turning 18 |
Evidence, and how to apply
- A police report is not compulsory. For economic loss and recognition payments you need a police report, or a report from a government agency or a funded victims' support, health, counselling or legal service, plus a medical, dental or counselling report. If the crime was reported to NSW Police, you do not need to send the police report.
- Every applicant provides one form of current government-issued identification. Copies of existing records are repaid if you succeed; new reports made for the application are not.
- Apply online (about 20 to 30 minutes; drafts can be saved), or send the form by email to vs@dcj.nsw.gov.au or by post to Scheme Executive, Victims Services, Locked Bag 5118, Parramatta NSW 2124.
- Phone: the Victims Access Line, 1800 633 063, or the Aboriginal Contact Line, 1800 019 123, 9am to 5pm, Monday to Friday, excluding public holidays.
- Someone can apply for you: a family member, friend, support worker or legal representative you authorise.
- Keep it moving: an application lapses if evidence is not given within 12 months after at least three requests, without a valid reason.
- How long it takes: the scheme does not publish a processing time.
Reviews and appeals
- Internal review: apply within 90 days from the day after you are told of the decision. It covers counselling, immediate needs, economic loss and recognition payments, and is decided within 42 days of the review starting.
- The tribunal: only recognition payment decisions can then go to the NSW Civil and Administrative Tribunal (NCAT, 1300 006 228), within 28 days of the internal review decision. NCAT does not award costs.
- Supreme Court: an appeal on a question of law, within 28 days of NCAT's decision (Legal Aid NSW).
Other money, and the offender
- Your right to sue is not affected, but once support is paid the State steps into your claim up to the amount paid. Damages, workers' compensation and insurance are taken into account, and you must report money you receive later from other sources.
- Court compensation: a sentencing court can order an offender to pay up to $50,000 for an injury, but not once support for that injury has been approved, and a person with such an award is not eligible for the scheme.
- The offender can be made to repay: the Scheme Executive can make an Order for Restitution against a person convicted of the offence (including a section 10 dismissal), up to 2 years after the conviction or 7 years after the victim's claim. The offender can object, then go to NCAT. Unpaid orders go to Revenue NSW.
- Legal costs: the scheme's pages do not list legal costs as something it pays.
Who runs the scheme
Victims Services, part of the Department of Communities and Justice, assists the Scheme Executive, who decides applications under the Victims Support Act 2013. NSW's new Victims of Crime Commissioner, appointed for a five-year term from 30 July 2026, advocates for victims and handles complaints under the Charter of Victims Rights, but does not decide applications.
Free help in NSW
| Service | Number | Hours |
|---|---|---|
| Victims Access Line (Victims Services) | 1800 633 063 | 9am to 5pm, Monday to Friday, excluding public holidays |
| Aboriginal Contact Line (Victims Services) | 1800 019 123 | 9am to 5pm, Monday to Friday, excluding public holidays |
| LawAccess NSW (Legal Aid NSW) | 1300 888 529 | 9am to 5pm, Monday to Friday, excluding public holidays |
| NSW Domestic Violence Line | 1800 65 64 63 | 24 hours, 7 days |
| Full Stop Australia (sexual, domestic and family violence) | 1800 385 578 | 24 hours, 7 days |
| knowmore (free legal help for survivors of child sexual abuse) | 1800 605 762 | 9am to 5pm, Monday to Friday |
| 1800RESPECT (national) | 1800 737 732 | 24 hours, 7 days |
How Go To Court Lawyers can help
Our free line, 1800 577 015, answers at any hour. Jen, our AI legal information assistant, gives general legal information and takes your details; Jen is not a lawyer and does not give advice about your case. A 60-minute consultation with a lawyer who practises in NSW is a fixed $295, by phone, video or in person where the lawyer offers it. The lawyer can advise on your application and the reports to gather, a review or NCAT application, and any other claim you may have against the offender or an insurer. Requests are taken at any hour; how soon a lawyer can see you depends on who is available. Request a $295 consultation.
General information only, not legal advice. Updated 23 October 2026. Checked against the NSW Government's Victims Support Scheme pages (modified 30 July to 9 October 2026), the NSW Parliament's copies of the Victims Rights and Support Act 2013 as passed and of the amending Acts of 2018 (No 34), 2024 (No 92) and 2025 (No 64), the NSW Civil and Administrative Tribunal, Legal Aid NSW and the support services' own pages, on 23 October 2026. The NSW legislation website could not be read that day.
Frequently Asked Questions
How much can you get from the NSW Victims Support Scheme?
A primary victim of a violent crime in NSW can get up to 22 hours of counselling, up to $5,000 for immediate needs, up to $30,000 for economic loss (including up to $20,000 of lost earnings) and a recognition payment of $10,000, $5,000 or $1,500 depending on the type of violence. Families of a homicide victim can get counselling, $5,000 for immediate needs, up to $9,500 for the funeral, $5,000 for court costs and, for some, a recognition payment of $15,000 or $7,500.
Can witnesses claim from the NSW Victims Support Scheme?
Witnesses injured by seeing the violence, and parents or guardians injured on learning their child was hurt, are secondary victims. They can get counselling only, not financial assistance or a recognition payment. A parent or guardian caring for an injured child can claim the child's economic loss.
What is the time limit for the NSW Victims Support Scheme?
There is no time limit for counselling. Financial assistance and most recognition payments must be claimed within 2 years of the act (a child victim, within 2 years of turning 18). Recognition payments for domestic violence, sexual assault or child abuse can be claimed within 10 years, and for sexual assault of a child at any time.
Do I need a police report?
Not necessarily. You need a police report, or a report from a government agency or a funded victims' support, health, counselling or legal service, plus a medical, dental or counselling report. If you reported the crime to NSW Police, you do not need to send the police report. No one needs to be charged or convicted.
Can I appeal a Victims Support Scheme decision?
Ask for an internal review within 90 days from the day after you were told of the decision. Only recognition payment decisions can then go to NCAT, within 28 days of the internal review decision.
Does the offender have to pay?
The Scheme Executive can order a person convicted of the offence to repay the State, up to 2 years after the conviction or 7 years after your claim. This does not affect your own support.
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