Government investigating potential fraud in Victim Assist Queensland scheme

The Queensland government is investigating potential fraud within the Victim Assist Queensland scheme.

The scheme offers payouts for expenses related to recovery from crime and paid out almost $244 million in the 2024-25 financial year.

Youth justice minister Laura Gerber has not ruled out tightening the scheme's criteria to clamp down on possible fraud.

The Queensland government is reviewing potential fraud in a vital scheme providing financial support to victims of crime, the ABC understands.

Victim Assist Queensland (VAQ) offers payouts for expenses relating to recovery from crime, including counselling and legal fees, moving costs, or one-off lump sums to primary victims of violent crime.

The scheme has seen a dramatic increase in applications and payouts in recent years, totalling almost half a billion dollars.

In the 2024-25 financial year, it paid out almost $244 million, up from $100 million the previous financial year, and just under $40 million in 2022-23.

Amid reports of rorts in the scheme, youth justice minister Laura Gerber put fraudsters on notice.

"Our priority is supporting victims, including domestic and family violence victims, and any financial assistance fraud is not only a crime but takes support away from victims in their time of need," she said.

"We strongly urge anyone with allegations of fraud to come forward with information."

Ms Gerber would not rule out tightening the scheme's criteria to clamp down on dodgy claims, or answer questions about any internal investigations to assess its effectiveness.

In some cases, victims can access compensation through VAQ without having reported to police, including through a doctor or psychologist.

Gillian O'Brien, Sexual Violence Prevention Association director, urged the government to consider any sweeping changes to VAQ's operations carefully.

"If there were any changes to assessment processes, the last thing I would want to see is going backwards to requiring police reporting for all matters," she said.

"Sexual assault and domestic violence are traumatic enough, and highly under-reported, often committed by someone the victim knows and trusts, and this would be a significant barrier for many victims to apply to the scheme."

Mel Arnost, Queensland Domestic and Family Violence Alliance chief executive, echoed Ms O'Brien's concerns.

"Not every victim survivor wants to report their abuse to police. And in fact, there are many police stations around the country and around Queensland that have embedded specialist domestic and family violence workers in their stations, precisely because victim survivors don't always feel comfortable or safe reporting abuse to police.

"So in those situations, they might approach a specialist domestic and family violence service or a worker in a station before they even make a report to police, if at all."

Ms O'Brien said VAQ made a significant difference to many people's lives and had many safeguards in place to prevent fraud.

"There are always going to be risks and unethical people with any financial assistance scheme.

"While checks and balances need to be in place, we need to ensure we don't place undue burden on victim survivors to prove they are worthy."

As of December 31, VAQ had already paid out more than $125 million this financial year.