(VIC) Remove the 10 Year Time Limit for Sexual Offence Victims Seeking Financial Assistance

(VIC) Remove the 10 Year Time Limit for Sexual Offence Victims Seeking Financial Assistanc.

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Author: Claire Percy, Akash Merai, Abigail Ma, Pema I’Anson, Helene Opsahl, Zehra Yamac, Jemima Tabacco, Harriett Cox, Alice Nigro & Alanah Bowden | Publish date: 27/3/2026

Trigger Warning: Domestic Violence, Sexual Offences

• P: In VIC, adult victim-survivors of sexual offences applying for financial assistance must do so within 10 years from the date of the crime, or provide a detailed explanation of the delay. 

• S: The VIC Minister for Victim Support should amend Section 23(4) of the Victims of Crime (Financial Assistance Scheme) Act 2022 (VIC) to omit ‘application by or on behalf of the victim may be made within 10 years’, to remove the time limit for sexual offence victims seeking the FAS.

Problem Identification: 

Section 23(4) of the Victims of Crime (Financial Assistance Scheme) Act 2022 (VIC) states that ‘an application by or on behalf of a victim may be made within 10 years after the occurrence of an act of violence if (a) the victim was at least 18 years old when the act of violence occurred; and (b) the act of violence consisted of or involved a sexual offence.’ Applications lodged outside the time limit are categorised as ‘out-of-time’ and require a detailed explanation for delays. 

The Victorian Law Reform Commission (VLRC) argued that this fails to reflect the lived realities of victims, as people who have been sexually assaulted ‘“may take much longer to recognise the violence and/or its effects on them, and/or to disclose or report it” than victim-survivors of other crimes’. They also found that the intricacies of an out-of-time application process ‘“places an unnecessary burden”’ on victims.  

Context: 

The Financial Assistance Scheme (FAS) provides compensation to help victims recover from violent crime. The FAS states that ‘the offender does not need to be charged or convicted of the crime’ for an applicant to be eligible. The VLRC noted that ‘the scheme was designed to provide a “victim-centred, trauma-informed model” of financial assistance’, which may be ‘“the only form of belief and validation [they] received throughout their involvement with the [justice] system.”’ They also observed that victim-survivors can use the money ‘for medical, counselling, and other costs, and to make up for lost income’, which may be required during the reporting process.

Out-of-time applications require the applicant to provide additional supporting evidence, such as ‘medical records’, ‘court documents’, or ‘letters from… accredited social workers’, to assess eligibility for financial assistance. 

According to the ABS, in 2024, 9.9% of reports of sexual assault were instances that took place 20 or more years prior.

Arguments:

NSW Health noted time limits are ‘problematic for adult victims of domestic and family violence and sexual assault, who may delay their disclosure of abuse for a considerable period’. The VLRC stated ‘not all victims have a linear recovery pathway, and that for some victims, the impacts of crime may manifest many years later.’ This is supported by researchers Gharib et al. (2025), who noted that ‘a clinically significant number of patients suffer from delayed-onset post-traumatic stress disorder.’ In a personal testimony, Rachel Thompson, a victim-survivor, reported that she did not recognise the experience as assault until 10 years later, and noted that ‘it can take years – sometimes decades – for some survivors to realise or accept that their experience amounts to sexual assault or rape.’ 

According to the VLRC, ‘victims may ... not want the added administrative burden of having to pursue an out-of-time application’, which could prevent them from obtaining financial compensation and impede their recovery. Safe Steps Family Violence Response Centre observed that the burden of administrative and evidentiary requirements can be ‘onerous’ and misaligned with the reality of such situations, and could even be ‘re-traumatising’ for those involved. The OECD Modernising Access to Social Protection Report (2024) further noted that ‘detailed processes and applications in order to receive welfare-improving benefits or services’ can prevent individuals from accessing them. Women’s Legal Services NSW highlighted that matters with a time limit ‘may mean that a victim chooses not to or is unable to pursue a civil claim and thus is denied justice.’ 

Advice/Solution Identification:

The VLRC, FCLCV and the WLSV have all called for the removal of time limits for sexual offence victims seeking the FAS. The VLRC emphasised that this could preserve financial assistance ‘as a justice option for victim survivors, regardless of when they report.’ The WLSV further suggested that by removing rigid time limits, victim-survivors could gain the opportunity to receive recognition and acknowledgement of their victimisation, which can be a critical step towards healing. 

Precedent:

There is domestic and international precedent for removing time limits for adult sexual offence victims to apply for financial assistance. In British Columbia (Canada), if the crime occurred after July 1, 1972 and ‘includes a sexual assault, there is no time limit for the victim’s application’ to the Crime Victim Assistance Program. Further, in VIC, child sexual abuse victim-survivors can already access civil compensation with no time limitation under the same scheme. 

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Public Support: 

1. Victorian Law Reform Commission

2. Federation of Community Legal Centres VIC

3. Women’s Legal Service Victoria 

This list reflects publicly stated positions and should not necessarily be taken as endorsement of this specific brief.

News Coverage:

• The Conversation - “The royal commission recommended abolishing time limits on abuse cases - a year on, nothing has changed”. The article reported on how New Zealand is behind Australia in their precedent of removing time limits for the reporting of sexual violence cases, particularly affecting childhood abuse cases. By: Zoë Prebble | 1 Aug 2025 - Read the article here.

• ABC News  - “Review recommends major changes to how sexual violence crimes are handled in the courts”. The Australian Law Reform Commission suggested some alterations to the current management of sexual violence in the courts nationwide, focusing on reducing the prevalence of retraumatisation. By: Tom Lowrey | 6 Mar 2025 - Read the article here.

• ABC News - “What the State of WA’s appeal of Dion Barber’s $2.8 million compensation win could mean for abuse survivors”. Compensation was awarded to a victim-survivor of childhood sexual assault who was in WA state care at the time of the offences, as a result of the removal of time limits in WA for victim-survivors to seek legal action. By Cason Ho | 10 Oct 2025 - Read the article here.

• The Nightly - “Abuse survivor’s long journey to justice and compensation from the Victorian Government”. During the pursuit of compensation for historical sexual violence, the case discussed in this article argued a misalignment in the VIC government’s words of support for victim-survivors, and actual provision of support within the courts. By: Remy Varga | 21 May 2024 - Read the article here.

Where to go to learn more: 

1. (2021) Improving financial assistance and truth telling for victim survivors of sexual violence | Victorian Law Reform Commission - This chapter of the Victorian Law Reform Commission report recommended strengthening the state's victims of crime assistance scheme by removing application time limits for all sexual violence survivors and establishing a specialised, expert-led stream to provide more meaningful financial recovery and ‘truth-telling’ opportunities. View the report chapter here.

2. (2024) Improving Justice Responses to Sexual Violence | Federation of Community Legal Centres VIC - This submission to the Australian Law Reform Commission’s Inquiry into Justice Responses to Sexual Violence recommends that time limits be removed for making applications for victims’ compensation for sexual violence, in order to more clearly reflect the realities of reporting and gaining support in cases of sexual violence. Read the report here.

3. (2016) Submission to the Statutory Review of the Victims Rights and Support Act 2013 | NSW Health - This submission recommended expanding the Act to include ‘principles of administration’ that better protect vulnerable groups, such as victims of domestic violence and sexual assault, from the financial and retaliatory risks associated with restitution and strict application time limits. Read the submission here.

4. (2025) About the Financial Assistance Scheme | Victims of Crime - This overview explained how the Financial Assistance Scheme was established as a trauma-informed administrative system to replace the Victims of Crime Assistance Tribunal (VOCAT) and provide victims of violent crime with streamlined access to financial support for their recovery. Read the overview here.

5. (2022) A life course approach to determining the prevalence and impact of sexual violence in Australia: Findings from the Australian Longitudinal Study on Women’s Health | Australia’s National Research Organisation for Women’s Safety - This report used data from the Australian Longitudinal Study on Women's Health to examine the prevalence and long-term impact of sexual violence across women's life courses in Australia. Read the report here.

6. Victims of Crime (Financial Assistance Scheme) Act 2022. Read the full Act here.

Human Perspective: 

Trigger warning: This discusses experiences of sexual violence and retraumatisation.

During Jane’s early twenties, she was sexually assaulted. 12 years after the abuse occurred, she was ready to access support. She began meeting with a therapist weekly, which involved revisiting these traumatising memories. Jane was mentally exhausted and suffering financially after making time to attend these appointments. However, it was really important to Jane that she was able to mentally show up for her family and herself, so she continued attending her sessions. She decided to apply for financial assistance to make up for the time she had taken to receive support. Jane knew the process of applying involved reliving her traumatic experience again through the administrative process. This meant Jane spent extra time preparing with her psychologist, even before looking at the application page. When she was finally ready, she discovered she was no longer eligible because of the 10-year time limit. To Jane, an out-of-time application meant booking more appointments than she had no paid leave days to attend and no extra money to pay for. Between caring for her family, maintaining her job, and managing her complex trauma responses, she simply had no resources left to navigate another complex process, especially one that had an uncertain outcome. To Jane, the out-of-time financial assistance application requirement felt like being asked to justify her pain twice: first to herself, and now to the state.

To protect the anonymity of those involved, this is a fictionalised account drawn from an amalgamation of real-life stories, experiences and testimonials gathered during the research process for this brief. Any resemblance to actual individuals is purely coincidental.

Conflict of interest/acknowledgment statement: 

N/A

Support 

If your organisation would like to add your support to this paper or suggest amendments, please email Info@foreaustralia.com. 

Disclaimers

Please review all FORE disclaimers here.

Reference list: 

Australian Bureau of Statistics. (2024). Recorded Crime - Victims. https://www.abs.gov.au/statistics/people/crime-and-justice/recorded-crime-victims/latest-release#data-downloads 

Australian Institute of Health and Welfare. (2026). Family, domestic and sexual violence. https://www.aihw.gov.au/family-domestic-and-sexual-violence/resources/fdsv-summary 

British Columbia Government. (2025). Crime Victim Assistance Program (CVAP). https://www2.gov.bc.ca/gov/content/justice/criminal-justice/bcs-criminal-justice-system/if-you-are-a-victim-of-a-crime/victim-of-crime/financial-assistance-benefits 

Federation of Community Legal Centres VIC. (2024). Improving Justice Responses to Sexual Violence. https://www.alrc.gov.au/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/213.-Federation-of-Community-Legal-Centres-Vic.pdf 

Gharib, H., Hayek, M. B., Omar Dakkak, A. S., Khaled, R., Alchabani, S., Rajoub, A., Mawardi, M. S., & Obaydo, R. H. (2025). Managing delayed-onset post-traumatic stress disorder triggered by the Syrian war, COVID-19, and an earthquake: A case report on therapy for a sexual abuse survivor using continuous exposure and digital communication. SSM - Mental Health, 7, 100411. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ssmmh.2025.100411 

Miller, J., Fredrick, P., Vars, E., Purdue, J., & Vars, F. (n.d.). Texas A&M Law Review Texas A&M Law Review Time to Heal: Trauma’s Impact on Rape & Sexual Assault Statutes Time to Heal: Trauma’s Impact on Rape & Sexual Assault Statutes of Limitations of Limitations TIME TO HEAL: TRAUMA’S IMPACT ON RAPE & SEXUAL ASSAULT STATUTES OF LIMITATIONS. 11, 12–20. https://doi.org/10.37419/LR.V11.I1.3 

NSW Health. (2016). Submission: Statutory review of the operation of the Victims Rights and Support Act 2013. https://dcj.nsw.gov.au/documents/about-us/engage-with-us/public-consultations/statutory-review-victims-rights-support-act-2013/NSW-Health.pdf 

OECD. (2024). Modernising Access to Social Protection: Strategies, Technologies and Data Advances in OECD Countries. https://www.oecd.org/content/dam/oecd/en/publications/reports/2024/05/modernising-access-to-social-protection_e97dce5c/af31746d-en.pdf?utm_source 

Safe Steps. (2017). Submission to Victorian Law Reform Commission: Review of the Victims of Crime Assistance Act. https://www.safesteps.org.au/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/submission-victims-crime-assistance-act-review-2017.pdf?utm_source 

Thompson, R. (2021, August 26). Unacknowledged rape: the sexual assault survivors who hide their trauma – even from themselves. The Guardian. https://www.theguardian.com/society/2021/aug/26/unacknowledged-the-sexual-assault-survivors-who-hide-their-trauma-even-from-themselves 

Victims of Crime (Financial Assistance Scheme) Act 2022 (Vic). https://content.legislation.vic.gov.au/sites/default/files/2022-06/22-021aa%20authorised.pdf 

Victims of Crime Financial Assistance Scheme. (2025) Financial Assistance Scheme Guidelines. https://www.victimsofcrime.vic.gov.au/sites/default/files/2025-06/Financial-Assistance-Scheme-Guidelines-30-June-2025-1.pdf 

Victorian Government. (2024). About the Financial Assistance Scheme. https://www.victimsofcrime.vic.gov.au/about-fas 

Victorian Government. (2025). Financial Assistance for Primary Victims. https://www.victimsofcrime.vic.gov.au/financial-assistance-primary-victims#what-you-will-need-to-provide-us 

Victorian Government. (2026, March 4). Compensation for victim-survivors of child sexual abuse. https://www.vic.gov.au/compensation-options 

Victorian Law Reform Commission. (2021) Improving the Justice System Response to Sexual Offences. https://www.lawreform.vic.gov.au/publication/improving-the-justice-system-response-to-sexual-offences-report/ 

Women’s Legal Services NSW. (2015). Discussion Paper: Limitation periods in civil claims for child sexual abuse. https://www.wlsnsw.org.au/wp-content/uploads/WLS-Response-to-limitation-periods-in-civil-claims-for-child-sexual-abuse-100315-a.pdf 

Women's Legal Service Victoria. (2024). Submission ALRC: Justice Responses to Sexual Violence. https://www.womenslegal.org.au/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/Womens-Legal-Service-Victoria_Submission_ALRC_Justice-Responses-to-Sexual-Violence_230614.pdf