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Victims of Crime Act 1994
6Who is a victim?
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6 Who is a victim?
(1) In this Act (other than division 3A.3A):
victim means a person who suffers harm because of an offence and
includes—
(a) a person (the primary victim) who suffers harm—
(i) in the course of, or as a result of, the commission of an
offence; or
(ii) as a result of witnessing an offence; and
(b) a family member, of the primary victim, who suffers harm
because of the harm to the primary victim; and
(c) a person who is financially or psychologically dependent on the
primary victim and who suffers harm because of the harm to the
primary victim; and
(d) the following people under the Victims of Crime (Financial
Assistance) Act 2016:
(i) a primary victim;
(ii) a related victim;
(iii) a homicide witness; and
(e) if a person mentioned for this definition is a child or legally
incompetent person—a guardian of the child or legally
incompetent person.
(2) However, a victim does not include a person who suffers harm
because of an offence he or she committed or is alleged to have
committed.
Important concepts Part 2A
guardian means—
(a) for a child—a parent, a legally appointed guardian of the child
or someone else with parental responsibility for the child under
the Children and Young People Act 2008, division 1.3.2
(Parental responsibility); or
(b) for a legally incompetent person—a person who is—
(i) a legally appointed guardian of the legally incompetent
person; or
(ii) an attorney, appointed under an enduring power of attorney
that has become operative, for the legally incompetent
person.
harm includes 1 or more of the following:
(a) physical injury;
(b) mental injury or emotional suffering (including grief);
(c) pregnancy;
(d) economic loss;
(e) substantial impairment of a person’s legal rights.
legally incompetent person means an adult who is subject to—
(a) an enduring power of attorney that has become operative; or
(b) a guardianship order.