Victims Register

Victims Registers

Victim Support ACT administers the ACT Victims Registers. There are three registers in the ACT:

  • The Adult Offender Register
  • The Youth Justice Register
  • The Affected Persons Register

These registers are set up to provide certain information to registered victims about the management of the offenders sentenceThe penalty imposed on an offender. Penalties include imprisonment, community service orders, good behaviour orders and fines., and in some instances about the mental health treatment of a forensic patient.

The information a registered victim or affected person is provided will depend on which register the victim is on and:

  • the nature of the crime
  • the age of the offender
  • the court that deals with the offences
  • the type of sentence the offender receives

The Charter of Rights for Victims of Crime PDF(1.2MB), which is in Victims of Crime Act 1994, outlines the rights to information and options for registered victims to participate.

You do not need to live in the ACT to apply to be on the ACT Victims Register, but the crime does need to have happened in the ACT.

Adult Offender Register

The Adult Offender Register is used when an offender:

  • was 18 or over at the time they committed the crime
  • has been found guilty or pled guilty and
  • is sentenced to a term of imprisonment or a community supervision order

The Crimes (Sentence Administration) Act 2005 outlines how the adult offender register works. The Charter of Rights for Victims of Crime outlines your rights in relation to this register.

Who can apply?

You can apply to go on the Adult Offender Register if:

  • the offender harmed you or a family member
  • a family member has died because of the crime committed by the offender
  • you have parental responsibility for a victim who is under the age of 15

If the offender’s sentence has been completed, then your registration will expire.

How to apply?

Here is the ACT Victims Register Expression of Interest form (176kb).

If you are getting other supports from VSACT, we can talk to you about the register, and how and when to apply.

We welcome you to contact us if you have any questions.

What information can I be given?

You will be contacted by a member of our team once your registration on the Adult Offender Register is confirmed. We may then give you information about the management of the offender’s sentence.

What we tell you will depend on whether the offender has been sentenced to a term of imprisonment or is serving a community based order.

Term of imprisonment

If the offender is serving a term of imprisonment, you may be given the following information:

  • the length of the sentence, the offender’s paroleA person who is found by a court to have done something which is prohibited by law. eligibility date and earliest release date
  • the correctional centre where the offender is currently detained and any transfer of the offender to another correctional centre
  • any non-association or place restriction order that applies to the offender
  • any unsupervised external leave given to the offender
  • the death, escape and re-capture of the offender
  • the transfer of the offender’s sentence to another State or Territory

If the offender makes an application for unsupervised leave or a parole application, the ACT Victims Register will contact you and provide you with an opportunity to make a submission to the ACT Corrective Services Custodial Management Team or the Sentence Administration Board.

A submission is a written or verbal statement provided by, or on behalf of the victim. The statement can outline any concern or issue relevant to the offenders parole or leave application.

The purpose of a submission is to inform the Sentence Administration Board or the ACT Corrective Services Custodial Management team of any concerns you or your family may have about the offender being granted parole, or unsupervised leave, and any additional conditions that may assist to alleviate these concerns.

Community based orders

If you are a registered victim of an offender who is serving a community based  sentence, you may be provided with the following information:

  • the type of community based order
  • the duration of the offender’s order
  • the place where the offender may do community service work or attend a rehabilitation program
  • any non-association order or place restriction order that relates to you
  • the transfer of the offender’s order to another State or Territory
  • the cancellation or variation of the offender’s order

The most common community based sentences are good behaviour orders PDF(205KB) and intensive corrections orders PDF(217KB).

How will I get the information?

Sometimes we will give you the information over the phone and sometimes we will send it to you in a letter or via email. We will try to adapt our communications to your needs and preferences.

If you have a case coordinator with VSACT, they might contact you with some updates. If you do not have a case coordinator, someone from the Victims Register at VSACT will contact you.

We will try to give you the information as soon as possible after it is given to us.

What can I do with the information?

Information given to a registered victim by the ACT Victims Register is provided in confidence and on the understanding that any information provided must not be publicly disclosed by the registered victim or any other person.

ACT Corrective Services No Contact List

ACT Corrective Services (ACTCS) manages the No Contact List for offenders serving a term of imprisonment in the ACT. This is to ensure people in the community who do not want to be contacted by a person serving a term of imprisonment are not contacted.

If you do not want to be contacted by an offender who is in the custodyAn accused or offender is in custody when they are in a remand centre awaiting a hearing or in prison and serving out a sentence. of ACTCS, you can request to be added to the No Contact List by contacting us directly. You do not have to be a victim of the offence the offender is in custody for to be added to the No Contact List.

If you were the victim of one of the following offences, you will automatically be added to the No Contact List:

  • all identified victims of sexual offences where the offender has been sentenced
  • all identified victims of an offence against a child or young person where the offender has been sentenced

All victims on the Adult Offender Register will be automatically added.

You can ask to be removed from the No Contact List at any time.

Youth Justice Register

If the person who committed a crime against you was under the age of 18 at the time of the crime, their matter will be heard in the Children’s Court. Public information about young offenders is very limited so it can be hard to find out what has happened to a young person who is found guiltyTo be legally responsible for a criminal offence. When a defendant enters a plea of guilty, the person accepts responsibility for the offence. When a defendant pleads not guilty, a jury or the magistrate determines the guilt of the defendant. of a crime in the ACT.

The Youth Justice Register is here to ensure you can access certain information about the sentence of a young person who has committed a crime against you.

The Crimes (Sentence Administration) Act 2005 and Children and Young People Act 2008 outline how the Youth Justice Register works. The Charter of Rights for Victims of Crime outlines your rights in relation to this register.

Who can apply?

You can apply to go on the Youth Justice Register if:

  • the young offender harmed you or a family member
  • a family member has died because of the crime committed by the young offender
  • you have parental responsibility for a victim who is under the age of 15

If the young offender’s sentence has been completed, then your registration will expire.

How to apply?

Use this application form to apply for the Youth Justice Register.

If you are getting other supports from VSACT, we can talk to you about the register and how and when to apply.

We welcome you to contact us if you have any questions.

What information can I be given?

If you are on the Youth Justice Register, we will tell you about your rights to information about young offenders who are sentenced.

We may be able to give you information including the following:

  • if the young offender has a non-association order or place restriction as part of their sentence
  • where a young offender may do community service work or rehabilitation
  • when the young offender will be released from imprisonment
  • if the young offender escapes from imprisonment

How will I get the information?

Sometimes we will give you the information over the phone and sometimes we will send it to you in a letter or via email. We will try to adapt our communications to your needs and preferences.

If you have a case coordinator with VSACT, they might contact you with some updates. If you do not have a case coordinator, someone from the ACT Victims Register will contact you.

We will try to give you the information as soon as possible after it is given to us.

What can I do with the information?

You will need make an agreement not to publish or circulate the information you receive about a young offender as a registered victim.

Affected Persons Register

If you have been impacted by a crime committed in the ACT where the person charged with the offence was found not guilty by way of mental impairment or they are deemed unfit to plead, you may apply to be on the Affected Persons Register.

In some instances it may not be possible for the Court to hold an offender criminally responsible. For this reason, in these types of matters, you may be referred to as the ‘affected person’ instead of the victim of crime and the offender will be referred to as a ‘forensic patient’.

A forensic patient been identified by the ACT Civil and Administrative Tribunal as having a mental impairment or cognitive impairment that impacts on the outcome of criminal proceedings.

The Affected Persons Register provides a mechanism for people affected by a crime that was committed by a forensic patient to get some information about certain things.

The Mental Health Act 2015 outlines how the Affected Persons Register works. The Charter of Rights for Victims of Crime outlines your rights in relation to this register.

Who can apply?

If you have been impacted by a crime in the ACT where the person charged with the offence was found not guilty by way of mental impairment or they are unfit to plea you may be eligible to be registered as an affected person.

A family member, someone who is dependent on the person who was injured by the crime, or the guardian of the injured person can also be registered.

How to apply?

To apply, fill in the application form Word(175KB).

If you are getting other supports from VSACT, we can talk to you about the register and how and when to apply.

We welcome you to contact us if you have any questions.

What information can I be given?

If you are a registered affected person, we may be able to tell you certain information about orders relating to the forensic patient’s treatment. This may include:

  • if the ACT Civil and Administration Tribunal (ACAT) is considering making a forensic mental health order or, in some circumstances, a mental health order
  • if the ACAT has made an order and the length of the order
  • if the ACAT changes, cancels, or alters an order

If the forensic patient is in a mental health or community care facility as part of their order, we may be able to tell you:

  • if the forensic patient escapes from the facility
  • if the forensic patient is released from the facility
  • if the forensic patient is granted leave, whether this is escorted leave or unescorted leave (may also include the locations of granted leave)
  • if the forensic patient’s order is transferred to another State or Territory

There may be opportunities for you to give information to the ACT Victims Register or evidence at an ACAT hearing in relation to an order for a forensic patient. We will tell you about these if you are on the Affected Persons Register.

How will I get the information?

Sometimes we will give you the information over the phone and sometimes we will send it to you in a letter or via email. We will try to adapt our communications to your needs and preferences.

If you have a case coordinator with VSACT, they might contact you with some updates. If you do not have a case coordinator, someone from the ACT Victims Register will contact you.

We will try to give you the information as soon as possible after it is given to us.

What can I do with the information?

You will need make an agreement not to publish or circulate the information you receive about the forensic patient as a registered affected person.

How we manage your information

Any information you share with us is private and will remain confidential. The offender, or forensic patient, will not be told that you have applied, or are registered, on the ACT Victims Register.

There may be circumstances where information is shared, however we will always endeavour to seek your consent first.

As a registered victim, you may request that your details be removed at any time. The ACT Victims Register will contact you to confirm when your request for removal has been completed.

Registered victims details will be removed from the register at the conclusion of the offenders sentence and written confirmation will be provided once this has taken place.