VICTIM IMPACT STATEMENT (VIS) PAGE
Victims of the Trio Capital fraud were never offered the opportunity to write or submit a VIS to the court. Justice Garling, when handing down his findings against the man charged with operating the Trio fraudulent scheme, said,
“I am quite uncertain as to the detail of any of these victims who are not to be compensated by the Commonwealth Government and find myself unable on the present state of the evidence to make any specific finding about the personal circumstances of any victim of the offence.”
Source: Regina v Shawn Darrell Richard [2011] NSWSC 866 (12 August 2011) Garling J.
There are guides available about VIS and how to prepare. For example:
Guide to making a Victim Impact Statement - Publications
Preparing a Victim Impact Statement - Court and Tribunal Services
Guide to Victim Impact Statements - Department of Justice
Victim impact statement information package - Victims Services
Fiona Tait, from Sydney Uni's School of Criminology says that "While most crime victims and their families value the victim impact statement and say it is very therapeutic, researchers say that victims still feel trauma and fears of shame when it comes to giving their statement." Source.
The ‘Guide to making a Victim Impact Statement – Publications’ (top above) says ‘A Victim Impact Statement is a written document used to inform the sentencing judge or magistrate about the impact of a crime upon the victim. A Victim Impact Statement (sometimes referred to as a VIS) is one way that you can tell the judge or magistrate how a crime has affected you.
Victim Impact Statements are not statements about the crime itself. Rather, they are a written statement that provides information to the sentencing judge or magistrate about the effect the crime has had on you. The impact of a crime upon a victim is one of a number of elements a judge or magistrate considers when determining an appropriate sentence.’
The crime victim must follow procedures when writing a VIS. An incorrectly written statement is inadmissible in court. The VISs on the VOFF website are not for a court - the Trio culprit was sentence in 2011. However, the VIS may serve another purpose such as show the reader how a group of Australian citizens found themselves outside of the law. The VISs here may show the reader that the people that had their retirement savings stolen are not a graph but have grievances that don't go away simply because the victims are ignored.
