On 3 March 2023 the Chief Magistrate issued Practice Direction 1 of 2023 – Centralisation of the Victims of Crime Assistance Tribunal, with a commencement date of 1 April 2022.

Following the Victorian Law Reform Commission’s review of the Victims of Crime Assistance Act 1996 and subsequent recommendation, the current proposed date for commencement of the Government’s new Financial Assistance Scheme (FAS) is January 2024.

In preparation for the commencement of the FAS, all pending and finalised VOCAT applications will be progressively transferred to the Tribunal’s Principal Registry in Melbourne for centralised management.

Practice Direction 1 of 2023 – Centralisation of the Victims of Crime Assistance Tribunal outlines the following:

• Proper venue provisions (from 1 April 2023)
• Correspondence to the Tribunal
• Residual file and hearing management

From 1 April 2023, the Melbourne VOCAT Registry will be the proper venue for all VOCAT applications, and all new applications should be filed with the Melbourne Registry from this date.

The transfer of VOCAT applications from local Tribunal venues into the Melbourne VOCAT Registry will commence from 1 April 2023 and run through to the end of June 2023. VOCAT responsibilities at the local venue will cease at the time of application transfer, and all parties will be notified accordingly.

Original Tribunal venues will continue to manage any application that is deemed to have had significant Judicial involvement.

The below table indicates each local Tribunal venue and their nominated transfer date:

The Tribunal Officer List and Koori List will continue to operate in accordance with their respective Practice Directions.

Should you have any enquires regarding centralisation of your application, the Tribunal may be contacted at help@vocat.vic.gov.au .