156ACommissioner of Victims Rights to notify victims of forensic patients or notifiable family members about Victims Register

#### 156A Commissioner of Victims Rights to notify victims of forensic patients or notifiable family members about Victims Register 156A Commissioner of Victims Rights to notify victims of forensic patients or notifiable family members about Victims Register > > (1) As soon as practicable after becoming aware of an eligible victim, the Commissioner of Victims Rights must notify the eligible victim of the following matters— > > > > > (a) that the Commissioner keeps the Victims Register, > > > > > (b) that the person is, on request, eligible to be included in the Victims Register in relation to the forensic patient and the offence, > > > > > (c) other matters prescribed by the regulations for this section about the following— > > > > > > > (i) eligibility for being included in the Victims Register, > > > > > > > (ii) the process for being included in the Victims Register, > > > > > > > (iii) the effect of being included in the Victims Register. > > > (2) However, if the eligible victim is under an incapacity or is less than 18 years of age, the Commissioner of Victims Rights must give notice of the matters under subsection (1) to at least 1 notifiable family member of the eligible victim known to a prosecuting authority instead of the eligible victim. > > > (3) Despite subsection (2), if the eligible victim is 16 or 17 years old, the Commissioner of Victims Rights may direct that notice under subsection (1) be given to the eligible victim instead of a notifiable family member of the eligible victim. > > > (4) In deciding whether to give a direction under subsection (3), the Commissioner of Victims Rights must consider the eligible victim’s individual circumstances. > > > (5) The Commissioner of Victims Rights is not required to notify the person of a matter under this section if— > > > > > (a) the Commissioner does not have sufficient information to enable the Commissioner to notify the person of the matter despite having taken reasonable steps to ascertain the information from a prosecuting authority, or > > > > > > Example— > > > > > > The Commissioner does not know, and cannot reasonably ascertain, the person’s identity or the person’s full or correct contact details. > > > > > (b) the Commissioner is aware, on reasonable grounds, the person does not wish to be included in or contacted about the Victims Register in relation to the forensic patient and the offence, or > > > > > > Examples of reasonable grounds— > > > > > > The Commissioner has been informed of the fact by the person or a representative of the person, or has been informed by a prosecuting authority that the person or a representative of the person has informed the prosecuting authority of the fact. > > > > > (c) the person is already included in the Victims Register as a victim of the forensic patient in relation to the offence, or > > > > > (d) the Commissioner is aware the person has already been notified of the matter, including because the matter has been included in another notice already given to the person by the Commissioner or another government agency under this Act or another Act. > > > (6) In this section— > > > > eligible victim means a victim of a forensic patient whose name is, if the victim were to make a request under section 156(2)(a), required to be included in the Victims Register as a victim of the forensic patient in relation to an offence for which the forensic patient was sentenced on or after the commencement of this section. > > > > Note— > > > > A victim of a forensic patient means a primary victim, or a family victim, of an act of violence, within the meaning of the [Victims Rights and Support Act 2013](/view/html/inforce/current/act-2013-037), committed by the forensic patient—see section 3, definition of victim. > > > > notifiable family member, of an eligible victim, means each of the following persons— > > > > > (a) the eligible victim’s spouse, > > > > > (b) the eligible victim’s de facto partner who has cohabited with the eligible victim for at least 2 years, > > > > > (c) a parent or legal guardian of the eligible victim, > > > > > (d) a child or step-child of the eligible victim, or some other child of whom the eligible victim is the guardian, > > > > > (e) a sibling or half-sibling of the eligible victim, > > > > > (f) another person approved by the Commissioner of Victims Rights as being an appropriate person to notify instead of the eligible victim, having regard to the eligible victim’s individual circumstances. > > > > prosecuting authority means— > > > > > (a) the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions, or > > > > > (b) the NSW Police Force.