The Victim impact statement is your opportunity to tell the court about the impact the crime has had on you. It is a factor that the court will take into account in sentencing. It may help the defendant realise the effects of what he or she has done. The decision to make or not make a Statement is yours.

If you make a Statement it should tell what the crime did to you. It should include the effects the crime has had on your physical, emotional and social well being, and any monetary costs of the crime. However, you cannot tell the judge what to do, and you should not use the Victim impact statement to describe the crime or to abuse the offender (or anyone else).

You will need to provide details of any loss of income or of ability to earn. The prosecutor can ask the sentencing court at this stage for compensation from the offender for damage or loss. Alternatively, you may wish to make an application later for criminal injuries compensation or for some other form of compensation (see pages 26 to 28).

You can fill out the Victim impact statement form or ask the police to do this for you. You can also decide not to fill it out, or ask the Victim Support Service or the Witness Assistance Service (Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions) to help you with it. If you are a member of a community in which whatever happens to one person affects many people equally, you should discuss this with the person who helps you to prepare the Statement.

You may update your Victim impact statement at any time before it is presented in court.

You may prepare a Victim impact statement without using the actual form, by writing your own statement.

If you do fill out the form, or if you write your own statement, the police will pass it on to the prosecutor. The judge and the lawyer representing the accused will get copies. The accused person will have a chance to read it.

You can ask for it to be read out in court for you or, if you are a victim of one of a certain group of crimes, you can read it out yourself.
You may be questioned about the truth of the Statement, although this is unusual.

The fact that you may choose not to read the Victim impact statement out in court does not affect how seriously the judge treats it.

Last Modified: 11 May, 2007
URL: http://www.voc.sa.gov.au