South Australian Current Acts South Australian Current Acts27—Payment of compensation etc by Attorney-General
(1) Subject to
subsection (2), the Attorney-General must satisfy an order for
statutory compensation (or for statutory compensation and costs) within 28
days of—
(a) the
day on which a copy of the order is lodged by the claimant with the
Attorney-General; or
(b) if
an appeal has been instituted against the order, the day on which the appeal
is withdrawn or determined,
whichever is the later.
(a) the
claimant has received or is entitled to payments apart from this
Act in respect of the injury or loss ("other payments"); and
(b) the
Attorney-General is satisfied that, in view of the other payments, it is just
to exercise the powers conferred by this subsection,
the Attorney-General may decline to satisfy an order for statutory
compensation (or for statutory compensation and costs), or may reduce the
payment to be made to the extent it appears just to do so.
(3) In the exercise of
the discretion conferred by subsection (2), the Attorney-General—
(a)
should have regard to the extent to which the other payments represent an
adequate compensation for the injury or loss; and
(b)
should (in appropriate cases) have regard to the extent to which the
other payments compensate (or would compensate) the claimant for pain,
suffering and other non-economic loss; and
(c) if
the other payments do not, in the Attorney-General's opinion, represent an
adequate compensation for pain, suffering and other non-economic loss, should
not reduce the amount to be paid under this Act below the lesser of the
following two amounts:
(i)
the amount that represents the extent of the deficiency;
(ii)
$10 000 (indexed).
(4) The
Attorney-General has an absolute discretion to make the following payments:
(a) an
interim payment of compensation (not exceeding the limits prescribed by this
Act in relation to an order for compensation) to a claimant who, in the
opinion of the Attorney-General, is in necessitous circumstances and is likely
to be awarded statutory compensation; or
(b) an
ex gratia payment (not exceeding the limits prescribed by this Act in relation
to an order for compensation) to a person in the following circumstances:
(i)
the person suffers injury, financial loss or grief in
consequence of conduct alleged to constitute an offence;
(ii)
the alleged offender is acquitted of the offence;
(iii)
the acquittal appears to the Attorney-General to have
arisen—
• in a case of
rape—from lack of mens rea ;
• in any other
case—from duress, drunkenness or automatism;
(iv)
the person would, in the Attorney-General's opinion,
probably have been awarded statutory compensation if the offence had been
established; or
(c) an
ex gratia payment (not exceeding the limits prescribed by this Act in relation
to an order for compensation) to the victim of conduct capable of constituting
the objective elements of an offence if it appears to the Attorney-General
that, because of lack of evidence, absence of capacity to incur criminal
responsibility or other matters personal to the perpetrator, or for any other
reason that does not reflect adversely on the victim, an offence has not been,
or cannot be, established; or
(d) an
ex gratia payment (not exceeding the limits prescribed by this Act in relation
to an order for compensation) to a person in the following circumstances:
(i)
the person suffers injury, financial loss or grief in
consequence of an offence committed outside this State;
(ii)
the victim is at the time of the commission of the
offence ordinarily resident in this State;
(iii)
some person is convicted of the offence;
(iv)
if the law of the place where the offence is committed
establishes a right to compensation—the claimant has taken reasonable
steps to obtain compensation under that law but without success;
(v)
the claimant would, in the Attorney-General's opinion,
probably have been awarded statutory compensation if the offence had been
committed in this State;
(vi)
the claimant is, in the Attorney-General's opinion, in
necessitous circumstances; or
(e) such
other ex gratia payments (not exceeding, in any particular case, the limits
prescribed by this Act in relation to an order for compensation) as the
Attorney-General considers necessary, and consistent with the objects and
policy of this Act, to compensate harm resulting from criminal conduct or
conduct of the kind described above.
(5) A decision by the
Attorney-General in the exercise of a discretion under this section cannot be
challenged or called in question before any court.