Charter of Victims Rights

Victims of crime

A victim of crime is someone who has suffered physical, psychological, or emotional injury, or financial loss because of a crime. It may include a person who has witnessed a crime or a family member of a person who was injured or killed.

Your rights

If you are a victim of a crime committed in NSW, you have rights. Your rights are set out and protected under the Charter of Victims Rights:

1. The right to be treated with courtesy, compassion, cultural sensitivity and respect for your rights and dignity.
2. The right to be told as soon as possible about what services can help you, including counselling and legal services.
3. The right to access medical, counselling and legal help if it is available.
4. The right to be told about how the police investigation is going, if you ask. Sometimes there will be things that they police can’t tell you.
5. The right to be told information about the prosecution of the accused.
6. The right to be told about the trial process and your role as a witness giving evidence.
7. The right to be protected from contact from the accused and defence witnesses, while the case is in court.
8. The right to keep your address and phone number private, unless the court says otherwise.
9. The right to not attend any court dates before the trial unless the court orders otherwise.
10. The right to have your property, which has been used as evidence, returned to you as soon as possible
11. The right to protection from the accused when the accused applies for bail.
12. The right to be told about any special bail conditions the accused is given, which are meant to protect you or your family, for example a non-contact condition.
13. The right to be told about the outcome of the accused bail application if you are the victim of sexual assault or other serious assault.
14. The right to give a victim impact statement.
15. The right to be told if the offender is going to be released from prison soon, has escaped prison or is on day release.
16. The right to make submissions if the offender applies for parole or day release. 
17. The right to receive financial help under the Victims Support Scheme, if you were injured from serious personal violence.
18. The right to information about how to complain if you think your rights under the Charter have not been met.

For more information, see Charter of Victims Rights on the Victims Services website.

Upholding the Charter

The Charter of Victims Rights must be followed by:

• all NSW Governments, and
• any non-government agencies and contractors funded by the state who give a support service to victims of crime. This doesn’t include private lawyers or doctors.

Making a complaint

If you believe someone hasn’t complied with the Charter, you can:

• speak to them about the problem
• make a formal complaint to the service or agency that provided you with the service.

If you are unhappy with the response to your complaint, or you are uncomfortable complaining to the service or agency, you can complain to Victims Services. To do this, you need to complete a Charter of Victims Rights complaint form. For a copy of this form, see Feedback and service complaints — Victims Services on the NSW Government website.

Victims Services will try to respond to your complaint within 21 days. Your complaint will be kept confidential. With your consent, Victims Services will contact the service or agency to help resolve your complaint.

For more information, see Charter of Victims Rights complaints on the NSW Government website.

Victims Services can’t help you with complaints about  police investigations or court decisions. You will need to follow the police complaints process.

For complaints about police, see How to lodge a complaint on the NSW Police Force website.

For complaints about courts, see Complaints and feedback on the Department of Communities and Justice website.

Last updated: March 2026