Charter of Victims’ Rights complaints reporting requirements

The functions of the Victims’ Commissioner under the Victims’ Commissioner and Sexual Violence Review Board Act 2024 (the Act) commenced on 2 September 2024.

Under the Act, all Queensland Government agencies must report information about Charter of Victims’ Rights complaints in their annual reports.

Complaints from victims of violent crime

If a victim believes their rights under the Charter of Victims’ Rights haven’t been upheld, they can either:

• make a complaint to the entity that they believe didn’t uphold their right
• make a complaint to the Office of the Victims’ Commissioner .

Under the Act, the Victims’ Commissioner handles complaints related the Charter. This role includes requesting information from or referring matters to agencies. Based on these complaints, the Commissioner can recommend improvements to agencies’ practices, policies or systems.

Reporting requirements

The Act requires Queensland Government agencies to determine if a complaint they receive relates to Charter rights. Government agencies must include all Charter-related complaints in their annual report.

The annual report needs to include:

• total number of complaints received
• number of complaints against each Charter right
• how the agency addressed the complaint
• number of complaints the agency referred to other entities to address.

Government complaint handlers should ensure:

• your agency’s complaints procedures align with the requirements of the Act
• your agency’s Information Technology team or team responsible for annual reports can accurately capture and publish the required complaints data.

More information

The reporting template for Charter of Victims’ Rights Complaints is available for download on Managing Government Performance under the ‘Prepare annual reports’ tab, below the ‘Open data’ heading.