About us
Victims register
The New South Wales Government believes that victims of crime should be treated with courtesy, compassion and respect for their rights and dignity.
In accordance with this fundamental belief, the Victims Rights Act was enacted in 1996. The Act contains a Charter of Victims Rights that establishes standards for the appropriate treatment of victims of crime that is overseen by the Victims of Crime Bureau.
Juvenile Justice is committed to acknowledging and observing the rights of victims as described in the Victims Rights Act 1996 and the Charter of Victims Rights.
Serious young offender review panel
Information not provided to registered victims
Who is eligible to register as a victim
Contact us for more information
Additional support information for victims
The victims register
In keeping with the requirements of the Crimes (Administration of Sentences) Act 1999, Juvenile Justice NSW established and maintains a Victims Register. Through the Victims Register the agency provides support and information to victims of crime as outlined in the Charter of Victims Rights.
The Victims Register records the names and contact details of those victims who have formally requested to be registered with the agency. Registered victims have the right to be kept informed of specified events as described in the Charter of Victims Rights as they relate to young offenders who were found guilty of a crime, have been sentenced by the courts and are currently in custody in a juvenile justice centre.
Information available to registered victims:
The agency will provide registered victims with information relating to:
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any change in security classification that would permit a detainee to become eligible for unescorted leave from custody (day or overnight leave), prior to his or her release from custody;
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the eligibility of a young offender to commence approved day or overnight leave;
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a young offender's impending release or escape from custody; and
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the young offender's impending parole.
Where an offender is a serious offender as defined by the Crimes (Administration of Sentences) Act 1999, registered victims will be informed of his or her right to make a submission to the Children’s Court in it jurisdiction as a Parole Board prior to the granting of parole.
Serious young offenders review panel
Registered victims of young offenders who have committed a serious children’s indictable offence are also given the opportunity to make a submission to the Serious Young Offenders Review Panel (SYORP).
The SYORP is an independent body established to assess all initial applications for day and overnight leave submitted on behalf of serious young offenders and to provide recommendations to the department’s Director General. The panel will carefully consider a range of reports and submissions, including any submission from a registered victim, prior to making its recommendation on a young offender’s application for unescorted leave from custody.
Information not provided to registered victims
In accordance with the Privacy and Personal Information Protection Act 1998 and the Children (Detention Centres) Act 1987, registered victims can not be provided with the following information:
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the location where the detainee is being detained;
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the actual date of a detainee’s initial day or overnight leave or any subsequent occasions on which leave is granted;
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the location where leave will be undertaken; or
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any other information that would contravene the department’s legislative responsibility under the Children (Detention Centres) Act 1987 and the Privacy and Personal Information Protection Act 1998.
Confidentiality
The Privacy and Personal Information Protection Act (Privacy Act) ensures legally enforceable privacy rights for people and governs how public sector agencies deal with personal information. It allows people the opportunity to make a complaint to the department about misuse of their personal information and/or apply to the department for an internal review concerning an alleged misuse of their personal information. These rights apply to both victims and detainees.
Information given to registered victims in accordance with the Charter of Victims Rights is provided in strictest confidence and on the understanding that the information and the identity of the young person must not be publicly disclosed.
Who is eligible to register as a victim
The Crimes (Administration of Sentences) Act 1999 defines a victim as:
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(a) a victim of an offence for which the offender has been sentenced or of any offence taken into account under Division 3 of Part 3 of the Crimes (Administration of Sentences) Act 1999, or
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(b) a family representative of such a victim (if the victim is dead or under any incapacity or in such circumstances as may be prescribed by the regulations),
and includes a person who suffers actual physical bodily harm, mental illness or nervous shock, or whose property is deliberately taken, destroyed or damaged, as a direct result of an act committed, or apparently committed, by the offender in the course of a criminal offence.
Contact us for more information
If you wish to formally register your interest with Juvenile Justice, please contact the Executive Services Branch to discuss this matter further. All correspondence should be marked confidential and addressed to:
The Victims Register
Executive Services Branch
Juvenile Justice
PO Box K399
HAYMARKET NSW 1240
Phone: 9219 9400
Fax: 9219 9511
Application form
The Victims Register application form can be downloaded (in PDF format) by clicking on the link below:
Victims Register application form
(32kb)
Additional support information for victims
The Victims of Crime website provides practical information for victims of crime about;
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counselling and support services
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police investigations and court processes
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obtaining compensation
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domestic violence and sexual assault
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victims rights
The Victims Services Website is accessed through Lawlink by clicking here.
- Related links
- Victims of Crime