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OFFICE OF CRIMINAL INJURIES COMPENSATION

DEPARTMENT OF THE ATTORNEY GENERAL

WESTERN AUSTRALIA

_________________________________________

Chief Assessor's Report 2016 / 2017

_________________________________________

The Honourable John Quigley, MLA Attorney General of Western Australia 10th Floor, London House 216 St Georges Terrace PERTH WA 6000 Dear Attorney General STATUTORY REPORT - CRIMINAL INJURIES COMPENSATION 2016/17 Pursuant to section 62 of the Criminal Injuries Compensation Act 2003 I submit my report on the operation of the Office of Criminal Injuries Compensation for the year ending 30 June 2017.

Yours faithfully

H L Porter CHIEF ASSESSOR OF CRIMINAL INJURIES COMPENSATION 25 August 2017

CRIMINAL INJURIES COMPENSATION

CONTENTS OVERVIEW……………………………………………………………………………………………………………….…..4

STATISTICAL PROFILE………………………………………………………………………………………………….....4

APPLICATIONS RECEIVED………………………………………………………………………………………….…….5

CLAIMS FINALISED…………………………………………………………………………………………………………5

NATURE OF OFFENCES…………………………………………………………………………………………………..6

GENDER OF RECIPIENTS..……………………………………………………………………………………………….6

MONETARY RANGE OF AWARDS……………………………………………………………………………………….7

INTERIM PAYMENTS……..…………………………………………………………………………………………….…..7

PRIMARY AND SECONDARY VICTIMS………………………………………………………………………………….8

LEGAL REPRESENTATION.……………………………………………………………………………………………….8

APPEALS……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..8

REASONS FOR REFUSALS……………………………………………………………………………………………….9

REDUCTIONS FOR CONTRIBUTION………………………………………………………………………………….....9

FUTURE PAYMENTS PROVISION………………………………………………………………………………………10

PERFORMANCE MEASURES……………………………………………………………………………………………11

ASSESSMENT TIME…………………………………………………………………………………………………….…11

OUTSTANDING APPLICATIONS……………………………………………………………………………………...…12

PROVISION OF REASONS…………………………………………………………………………………………….…12

COMMUNITY SERVICE..……………………………………………………………………………………………….…13

RECOVERY OF DEBT……………………………………………………………………………………………….….…13 FAMILY AND DOMESTIC VIOLENCE…………………………………………………………………………………...14

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS….. ……………………………………………………………………………………….….…15

OVERVIEW The Office of Criminal Injuries Compensation (OCIC) is established pursuant to the Criminal Injuries Compensation Act 2003 (the Act) to compensate applicants for injuries and some losses suffered as a consequence of an offence. Compensation can be awarded for bodily harm, mental and nervous shock, and pregnancy suffered as a consequence of an offence. Compensation is available for pain and suffering, loss of enjoyment of life, loss of income, the cost of reports, some personal items and treatment expenses. The maximum amount payable is $75,000.00 for an offence committed in Western Australia after 1 January 2004, and lesser amounts for offences prior to that. STAFF The team at the OCIC consists of 3 full time assessors and 17.2 full time equivalent administrative employees, including staff working on recovery of compensation payments from convicted offenders (the Recoveries Office). The number of staff has been at this level since June 2009. In that time the case load has increased from 750 applications to 3,313. KEY DATA FOR 2017 3,189 new applications for compensation were received. 3,167 applications were accepted for processing, an increase of 15.8%. 2,585 applications were finalised, an increase of 14.3%. 2,279 awards were made to a total value of $39,777,383.00 The average award was $17,454.00. 226 applications were refused. 3 hearings were held into applications for compensation. The caseload increased by 582 to 3,313 applications on hand, an increase of 21.3%. $1,778,330.00 of debt owed to the State was recovered, an increase of 4.4%. 1,308 finalised applications arose from offences involving family and domestic violence, 50.6% of the finalised applications. STATISTICAL PROFILE 2012/13 2013/14 2014/15 2015/16 2016/17

New applications received 2180 2391 2700 2769 3189

Accepted applications 2154 2342 2765 2734 3167

Rejected applications 443 694 687 707 762

Resubmitted applications 417 477 490 557 699

Awards granted 1675 1679 1789 1987 2279

Applications refused 171 180 189 222 226

Applications closed or discontinued 51 68 79 53 80

Applications outstanding at 30 June 1149 1556 2261 2731 3313

NEW APPLICATIONS RECEIVED During 2016/17, 3,189 new applications were received. On 762 occasions applications were returned to the applicant for further work. Of the applications returned to the applicant, 699 were resubmitted on at least one occasion. As in the preceding year, it can be seen that over the past 5 years the OCIC has managed to increase the output of completed applications, with no increase in staff since June 2009. In 2016, 2,262 applications were finalised, and in 2017, 2,585 were finalised. This increase in output continues to be overtaken by the rate of new applications, resulting in an increase in the case load and in the time victims of crime must wait for an application to be determined. The case load increased this year by 582 applications.

CLAIMS FINALISED

1872

2154

2342

2765

2734

3167

1809

1897

1927

2057

2262

2585

0 500 1000 1500 2000 2500 3000 3500

2011/12

2012/13

2013/14

2014/15

2015/16

2016/17

Number of applications

Year

APPLICATIONS ACCEPTED AND FINALISED 2011/12 to 2016/17

Applications Finalised New Applications Accepted

1624

1675

1679

1789

1987

2279

126

171

180

189

222

226

59

51

68

79

53

80

0 500 1000 1500 2000 2500

2011/12

2012/13

2013/14

2014/15

2015/16

2016/17

Number of applications

Year

CLAIMS FINALISED 2011/12 to 2016/17

Closed/Discontinued Refused Granted

NATURE OF OFFENCES INVOLVED The chart below illustrates the types of offences for which awards were made, with a comparison between 2015/16 and 2016/17.

NUMBER OF MALES & FEMALES TO WHOM AWARDS WERE MADE The following chart shows the gender of persons to whom awards were made and the number of adults and children involved. Overall, 35% of recipients were male and 65% female. The number of female applicants is the highest recorded and represents a steady increase over the years since 2008 when the percentage of female applicants was 39%.

1012

175

97

115

100

233

46

28

12

8

3

10

29

119

1188

205

73

70

114

272

46

48

15

8

1

36

44

159

0 200 400 600 800 1000 1200 1400

Assault

Sexual Assault

Robbery/Burglary

Grievous Bodily Harm

Unlawful Wounding

Other

Homicide

Stalking/Threatening

Dog attack

Deprivation of Liberty

Motor vehicle

Neglect of child

Damage

Breach of violencerestraining order

Number of awards

Type

of o

ffenc

e

OFFENCES FOR WHICH AWARDS WERE MADE 2015/16 to 2016/17

2016/17

2015/16

Male Adult, 661, 29%

Female Adult,

1199, 53%

Male Child, 140, 6%

Female Child, 279,

12%

GENDER OF RECIPIENTS 2016/17

Number of awards made (total 2279)

010203040506070

Percentage of Female Applicants

RANGE OF AWARDS MADE The chart below illustrates the monetary range of awards made, with a comparison between 2015/16 and 2016/17.

INTERIM PAYMENTS An Assessor may authorise an interim or “up front” payment before the finalisation of a claim, to a maximum of $2,250.00 for expenses incurred as a consequence of a death or injury. The table below shows the number of applicants to whom interim payments were made.

290

244

334

410

270

143

84

89

123

341

310

508

404

297

140

90

101

88

0 100 200 300 400 500 600

under $2 500

$2 500 - $5 000

$5 001 - $10 000

$10 001 - $20 000

$20 001 - $30 000

$30 001 - $40 000

$40 001 - $50 000

$50 001 - $75 000

over $75 000

Number of awards made

Amou

nt o

f aw

ards

($)

MONETARY RANGE OF AWARDS 2015/16 and 2016/17

2016/17

2015/16

99

72

45

83

58 73

54

0

20

40

60

80

100

120

2010/11 2011/12 2012/13 2013/14 2014/15 2015/16 2016/17

Num

ber o

f pay

men

ts

Year

INTERIM PAYMENTS MADE 2010/11 to 2016/17

PRIMARY & SECONDARY VICTIMS

REPRESENTATION The last 12 months has seen an increase in the proportion of applicants having legal representation, with 69% of applicants represented compared to 64% in the previous year.

APPEALS 29 appeals were lodged with the District Court following the determination of a compensation application. 28 appeals were finalised and of these 6 were successful, 5 were unsuccessful, 5 were abandoned and 12 were discontinued.

Primary 1639

Primary 1758

Primary 1790

Primary 1952

Primary 2154

Primary 2460

Secondary 170

Secondary 139

Secondary 137

Secondary 105

Secondary 108

Secondary 125

0 500 1000 1500 2000 2500 3000

2011/12

2012/13

2013/14

2014/15

2015/16

2016/17

Year

PRIMARY & SECONDARY VICTIMS 2011/12 to 2016/17

Self Represented

Self Represented

Self Represented

Self Represented

Self Represented

Self Represented

Represented by Lawyer






0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100%

2011/12

2012/13

2013/14

2014/15

2015/16

2016/17

Year

REPRESENTATION 2011/12 to 2016/17

REFUSALS Awards were refused on 224 applications for reasons detailed below. Of these refusals, 104 (46%) relate to matters involving allegations of family and domestic violence. Section of Act No of Refusals Family and

Domestic Violence Matters Refused

Reason for Refusal

9

10

12

23

4

9

15

1

6

Time expired, extension of time refused Entitlement ceases on death of victim Assessor not satisfied applicant injured in the commission of a proved offence

13

16

21 8

7 4

Alleged offender acquitted Alleged offender acquitted due to unsoundness of mind

17

21

61 0

40 0

Assessor not satisfied applicant injured in the commission of an alleged offence Applicant required to enforce other remedies

35 9 0 Limitation of compensation for mental and nervous shock

36 0 0 No award if compensation likely to benefit offender

37 4 1 Injury caused by a motor vehicle

38 31 21 Applicant did not assist investigation, apprehension or prosecution of offender

39 26 4 Victim engaged in criminal conduct

40 8 5 Compensation previously awarded or refused

41

42

4

16

0 0

Behaviour etc of victim to be considered Insurance payment deducted from award

REDUCTIONS TO AWARDS FOR CONTRIBUTION Section 41 of the Act requires that regard be had to “any behaviour, condition, attitude, or disposition of the victim that contributed, directly or indirectly, to the victim’s injury or death”, and authorises the assessor to refuse or reduce the award. Reductions for contributory behaviour, ranging from 10% to 50%, were made in 26 awards during 2016/17. Of these, 20 awards were reduced by 20% or less and 6 awards were reduced by over 20%. No application was refused for contributory behaviour. None of the applications on which a reduction was made for contributory behaviour involved instances of family and domestic violence.

FUTURE PAYMENTS PROVISION As part of an award, an Assessor may make provision for future treatment costs, which can be claimed by the applicant when relevant costs are incurred within 10 years of finalisation of the application.

In 2016/17 provision was made in 327 awards for future treatment expenses totalling $1,227,782.00. increasing the total provision made under the Act since 1 July 2004 to $14,019,535.00. Of this, $234,971.00 was paid out in 2016/17 bringing the total paid since the commencement of the Act on 1 July 2004 to $2,314,598.00. Pursuant to section 48 of the Act, payment is not made until expenses have been incurred and any available rebate has been claimed. Further, payment may only be made if the expense was incurred before the expiry of 10 years after the date of the award or after the date the applicant reached 18 years of age, whichever is the later.

51

221

32

17

5

1

0 50 100 150 200 250

Less than $1 000

$1 000 - $5 000

$5 001 - $10 000

$10 001 - $20 000

$20 001 - $30 000

$30000 +

Number of awards with a future payment provision (total 327)

Futu

re p

aym

ent p

rovi

sion

($)

RANGE OF FUTURE PAYMENTS PROVISION 2016/17

402

431

388

400

348

378

327

0 50 100 150 200 250 300 350 400 450 500

2010/11

2011/12

2012/13

2013/14

2014/15

2015/16

2016/17

Number of awards with future payment provision

Year

FUTURE PAYMENT PROVISIONS 2010/11 to 2016/17

PERFORMANCE MEASURES The Table below represents the quarterly and end of year statistics reported to the Department of Justice.

July - Sep 16 Oct - Dec 16 Jan - Mar 17 Apr - Jun 17 Annual 442 856 821 1048 3167 482 616 760 632 2490

652 768 651 514 2585 214 281 188 163 846 135 208 132 92 567 303 279 331 259 1172

2 0 0 1 3

2520 2609 2777 3313 3313 1502 1635 1843 2320 2320 440 330 373 322 322 578 644 561 671 671

621 775 936 857 3189 156 147 276 183 762 139 159 176 225 699

ASSESSMENT TIME The calculation of the average time taken to finalise an application has in the past been made on the basis of only those applications finalised in less than 12 months from receipt. This assumption reflected the likelihood that, in cases which take more than 12 months to finalise, the delay is caused by external factors such as ongoing treatment, finalisation of the prosecution, and resolution of other avenues for compensation. On this basis, the assessment time during 2016/17 was 7.6 months, a decrease from 8.2 months in 2015/16. However, the assessment time over all applications finalised in the financial year was 12.5 months. The table below compares the assessment time of applications determined in less than 12 months for the years 2013/14 to 2016/17, with all applications determined in those years. The increased time taken to finalise applications is now significantly contributed to by the volume of the work of the Office.

5.8

7.7 8.2 7.6 7.2

8.8

12 12.5

0

2

4

6

8

10

12

14

2013/14 2014/15 2015/16 2016/17

AVERAGE ASSESSMENT TIME FOR FILES FINALISED

Files under 12 months All files finalised

Lodgements accepted

New applications Finalisations 39 weeks & less 39 to 52 weeks More than 52 weeks Listings matters heard

Cases on hand Less than 39 weeks 39 to 52 weeks More than 52 weeks Applications New & Resub

Applications Rejected Applications Resubmitted

OUTSTANDING APPLICATIONS On 30 June 2017, 3,313 applications were on hand, an increase of 582, or 21.3%, over the preceding 12 months. The breakdown of the age of the cases on hand in the table below shows that the number of applications which have been in the Office for more than 12 months has increased by 7.4%.

PROVISION OF REASONS An Assessor is required to give written reasons for the making of an award when requested to do so, and in all cases where the making of an award is refused. Where an Assessor forms the view that by reason of the operation of the legislation an applicant is ineligible for compensation, the applicant may be advised in writing by letter of the reasons for that outcome, rather than in formal written reasons. During 2016/17, formal reasons for decision were provided in 18 cases and in total reasons were provided in 220 cases, a decrease of 4 over the previous year. The chart below sets out the breakdown of these reasons.

742

962

1293

1530

1817

2320

57

67

113

390

289

322

86

120

150

341

625

671

0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100%

2011/12 (885)

2012/13 (1149)

2013/14 (1556)

2014/15 (2261)

2015/16 (2731)

2016/17 (3313)

Percentage of cases

Year

(Tot

al o

n ha

nd)

APPLICATIONS ON HAND - 30 JUNE

Under 9 months 9 to 12 months Over 12 months

29

28

21

18

16

19

18

1

1

4

0

1

1

0

94

115

168

173

182

204

202

2010/11 (124)

2011/12 (144)

2012/13 (193)

2013/14 (191)

2014/15 (199)

2015/16 (224)

2016/17 (220)

Year

(tot

al re

ason

s)

REASONS PROVIDED 2010/11 TO 2016/17

Formal reasons - award Formal reasons - refusal Informal refusal letter

COMMUNITY SERVICE During the year Assessors have participated in a number of public speaking engagements and education and training opportunities, including at the John Curtin Institute of Public Policy, Curtin University, the Australian Lawyers Alliance Conference, the Aboriginal Family Law Service CLE day, Community Legal Services' Quarterly CLE day, the SCALES Community Legal Centre seminar series and the ANZAPPL seminar series. In addition the OCIC continues to provide opportunities for Murdoch University Law Students to complete research work to contribute to their degree program. RECOVERY OF DEBT When a compensation award is made in a case where an offender was convicted, the State may apply to an Assessor for a Compensation Reimbursement Order (CRO) to determine whether the offender should be required to repay the amount awarded, to fix the amount of the debt and in an appropriate case to provide for the method of repayment of the debt to the State. The application is listed before the Assessor and the offender must be served with a notice advising of the date, time and purpose of the application. The State's opportunity to take action to recover compensation paid to a victim of crime from the convicted offender depends on the determination of the Assessor of the appropriate amount of recovery, taking into account all of the circumstances. Issues which are relevant to this determination include, for example, the offender's assets, the impact on the offender's earning capacity of a period of imprisonment and issues relating to the offence itself. Under the Act, there is no recoverable debt until a CRO is made, although some offenders voluntarily make payment on demand under the Act without the requirement of a CRO. The Table below represents the number of applications for a CRO brought before an Assessor in each of the years listed, and the number of orders made. The number of applications has been reduced over the period because of the demand on the Assessors' time brought about by the increasing caseload, but has been stable for the last three years.

In 2016/17, $1,778,330.00 of debt owed to the State was recovered, compared to $1,702,640.00 in the previous year. This represents a 4.4% increase in the amount recovered, notwithstanding the maintenance of the restrictions on the number of hearings which are available to the recoveries team to facilitate the debt collection work, and the fact that some Recoveries Office staff were diverted during the year to assist in processing the large volume of applications for compensation. The amount represents a net gain to the State over the cost of administering the recoveries process.

861

653

413

298

295

300

778

606

360

275

282

283

2011/12

2012/13

2013/14

2014/15

2015/16

2016/17

Number

Year

REIMBURSEMENT ORDERS 2011/12 TO 2016/17

Reimbursement Orders made Applications for Reimbursement Orders

FAMILY AND DOMESTIC VIOLENCE As a result of the recommendations of the Law Reform Commission of Western Australia in the Final Report on Enhancing Laws Concerning Family and Domestic Violence, June 2014, the OCIC began collecting data concerning applications arising from allegations of family and domestic violence. The data below relates to the 1,308 applications finalised this year involving family and domestic violence. NATURE OF OFFENCES INVOLVED The chart below illustrates the types of offences for which awards were made during 2016/17 for offences committed in the context of family and domestic violence.

In the previous year, 982 applications were finalised for incidents of family and domestic violence. The number of finalised applications relating to incidents of family and domestic violence in the current year represents a 33.2% increase over the previous year. Of the 1,308 applications finalised, 1,262 were brought by the primary victim, and 46 by a secondary victim such as a child of the primary victim who witnessed the incident. Applications were refused in cases involving family and domestic violence in 104 cases, of which 103 claimed to be primary victims and 1 secondary victim.

607

99

8

17

46

132

7

28

6

1

32

20

155

0 100 200 300 400 500 600 700

Assault

Sexual Assault

Robbery/Burglary

Grievous Bodily Harm

Unlawful Wounding

Other

Homicide

Stalking/Threatening

Deprivation of Liberty

Motor vehicle

Neglect of child

Damage

Breach of restraining order

Number of awards

Type

of o

ffenc

e

OFFENCES FOR WHICH FAMILY AND DOMESTIC VIOLENCE AWARDS WERE MADE 2016/17

2016/17

Male Adult, 20, 2%

Female Adult, 880, 76%

Male Child, 80, 7%

Female Child, 178, 15%

GENDER OF RECIPIENTS IN CASES OF FAMILY AND DOMESTIC VIOLENCE 2016/17

Number of awards made (total 1158)

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS The statistics measuring the performance of the OCIC in 2016-17 reveal a continued increase in the caseload and consequently an increase in the pressure placed on all staff to meet the needs and expectations of the community. In addition to the case load impacting on all officers, work has been done by all staff during the year on the development and implementation of the Integrated Courts Management System (ICMS). It is to be hoped that ICMS, when fully developed and applied to the OCIC, will assist staff to cope with the demands of the workload and consequently assist the community in providing more timely outcomes for criminal injuries compensation applications.

All members of staff have continued to produce excellent output in the face of the continued very high workload, and have joined in the ICMS development work with enthusiasm and commitment. On behalf of the community I congratulate and thank each of the officers concerned.

H L Porter CHIEF ASSESSOR OF CRIMINAL INJURIES COMPENSATION 25 August 2017

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