Court-ordered payments to victims of crime

Part of the Financial assistance for victims topic

Understand how victims are compensated in Queensland, and what to do if you are eligible to receive payments.

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In short

Victims of crimes in Queensland may be eligible to receive court-ordered compensation or restitution from the person who committed the offence against them.

A court may refer the order to the State Penalties Enforcement Registry (SPER) to collect the payment on behalf of the victim.

What you should know

SPER takes all reasonable steps within its power to recover money under the State Penalties Enforcement Act 1999.

Despite best efforts, it may be difficult to collect the amount owed to victims. This could be due to offenders being in prison or unlocatable.

Being notified about your payment

If an order to pay you victim compensation or restitution has been referred to SPER you will be notified by SPER or the court that issued the order.

Due to privacy and confidentiality obligations, SPER can only tell you limited information about the offender and the money owed to you.

The information you receive may include:

  • whether SPER has contacted or taken enforcement action against the offender (but not the type of contact or enforcement action)
  • if the offender has been imprisoned or has died
  • whether a company has been deregistered or is under administration
  • if the debt has been written off.

Receiving your payment

It can take time to recover the money owed to you.

If an offender has multiple compensation and restitution court orders, money collected will be paid to victims in the order of priority set by the court.

Depending on the offender’s circumstances, they may need to pay by instalments.

SPER can pay the money owed to you by:

Electronic transfer

To receive payments by EFT, you can complete the request either online, by email or by post.

Online:

Complete and submit the online EFT form.

Email:

  • Download the PDF form for payment to an:
    • individual
    • organisation
  • Include a copy of your bank statement showing your account details to confirm you are the account holder.
  • Email to: sper@treasury.qld.gov.au.

Post:

  • Download the PDF form for payment to an:
  • individual
  • organisation
  • Include a copy of your bank statement showing your account details to confirm you are the account holder.
  • Post to:
    The Registrar
    SPER
    GPO Box 1387
    BRISBANE  QLD  4001

Cheque

Payments can be made pay cheque.

Once SPER has received the full amount from the offender, a cheque will be posted to you.

You may be contacted to arrange another payment if we have sent you a cheque that has not been cashed.

Maintaining your contact details

Make sure your contact details are up to date by contacting SPER if there are any changes.

If you are changing your name, you need to send us a copy of the official certificate.

Last updated:
29 June 2026