South Australian Current Acts

VICTIMS OF CRIME ACT 2001 - SECT 4

4—Interpretation

        (1)         In this Act, unless the contrary intention appears—

"child"—a reference to a child is not limited to biological and adopted children—it extends to a person in relation to whom another (who is not a biological parent) stands in the position, and undertakes the responsibilities, of a parent; but a reference to a child does not, in the absence of an indication to the contrary, extend to an adult child;

"claimant" means a person by whom, or on whose behalf, an application for statutory compensation is made;

"Commissioner" means the Commissioner for Victims' Rights appointed under Part 3 Division 2;

"conviction" includes a formal finding of guilt and "to convict has a corresponding meaning;

"court" means the District Court;

"CPI" means the Consumer Price Index (All groups index for Adelaide) published by the Australian Bureau of Statistics;

"custody" includes—

            (a)         home detention; and

            (b)         detention in a training centre within the meaning of the Young Offenders Act 1993 ; and

            (c)         detention as a result of being declared liable to supervision under Part 8A of the Criminal Law Consolidation Act 1935 ;

"dependants", in relation to a victim, means any spouse, domestic partner, parents or children (including adult children) of the victim who are financially dependent on the victim;

"domestic partner" means a person who is a domestic partner within the meaning of the Family Relationships Act 1975 , whether declared as such under that Act or not;

"harm" means injury, damage or loss;

"homicide" means murder, manslaughter or an offence against section 14 of the Criminal Law Consolidation Act 1935 (criminal neglect) where the victim dies;

"immediate family" of a person means any one or more of the following:

            (a)         a spouse or domestic partner;

            (b)         a parent;

            (c)         a grandparent;

            (d)         a child (including an adult child);

            (e)         a grandchild (including an adult grandchild);

            (f)         a brother or sister;

"immediate victim", in relation to an offence, means a victim of any of the following classes:

            (a)         a person who suffers physical injury as a result of the commission of the offence;

            (b)         a person who suffers psychological injury as a result of being directly involved in the circumstances of the offence or in operations in the immediate aftermath of the offence to deal with its consequences;

            (c)         if the offence was committed against a child—a parent or guardian of the child;

            (d)         if the offence was committed against a person who dies as a result of the offence—a member of the immediate family of the deceased;

"injury" means physical or mental injury, and includes pregnancy, mental shock and nervous shock;

"non-financial loss" means—

            (a)         pain and suffering;

            (b)         loss of amenities of life;

            (c)         loss of expectation of life;

            (d)         disfigurement;

"offence" includes conduct on the part of a person that would constitute an offence if it were not for that person's age or mental impairment;

"offender", in relation to an offence, means—

            (a)         the person who committed the offence; or

            (b)         in the case of conduct that would constitute an offence if it were not for the person's age or mental impairment—the person who engaged in that conduct;

"parent" includes a person who stands in the position, and undertakes the responsibilities, of a parent;

"serious offence" means an indictable offence—

            (a)         that resulted in the death of, or physical harm to, a victim; or

            (b)         that is a sexual offence within the meaning of the Evidence Act 1929 ,

and includes an offence of aiding, abetting, counselling or procuring the commission of such an offence, conspiring to commit such an offence or being an accessory after the fact to such an offence;

"spouse"—a person is the spouse of another if they are legally married;

"statutory compensation" means compensation under this Act;

"victim", in relation to an offence, means a person who suffers harm as a result of the commission of the offence (but does not include a person who was a party to the commission of the offence).

        (2)         In this Act, if a monetary amount is followed by the word (indexed), the amount is (on or after 1 January 2016) to be adjusted on 1 January of each year by multiplying the stated amount by a proportion obtained by dividing the CPI for the September quarter of the immediately preceding year by the CPI for the September quarter, 2014, on the basis that the quotient used for the purposes of the adjustment will be calculated to 2 decimal places and that the amount obtained from the adjustment will be rounded to the nearest dollar.