AAP General News (Australia)
08-07-2006
NSW: Debus defends victims of crime compo scheme
SYDNEY, Aug 7 AAP - NSW Attorney-General Bob Debus has defended the state's victims
of crime compensation scheme after it was revealed debts many criminals owed to the scheme
have been written off.
Convicted criminals had been excused from paying about $9 million to the scheme between
July 1, 2003 and June 30, 2005, The Daily Telegraph newspaper reported.
Victims of crime in NSW can seek payouts of up to $50,000 from the Victims Compensation
Tribunal, which is partly funded by taxpayers and partly by offenders.
Mr Debus today said criminals could not always afford to contribute to the scheme.
"You can't actually expect that you can get $50,000 or $100,000 out of somebody who's
been snatching bags and is now in jail," he told reporters.
"What you can do is wherever possible, seek restitution from offenders. That's what
we do do and they pay for some portion of this otherwise taxpayer-funded scheme."
AAP pj/was/sp
KEYWORD: COMPENSATION DEBUS
) 2006 AAP Information Services Pty Limited (AAP) or its Licensors.
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