Text as at 15 April 2026

This provision has not been checked by a human. The text below was read automatically from the official PDF and has not yet been verified against it, so it may differ from the provision as published — in its wording, its numbering, or where one provision ends and the next begins. For the authorised text, see legislation.vic.gov.au.

8L Contents of victim impact statement

(1)A victim impact statement contains particulars of the impact of the offence on the victim and of any injury, loss or damage suffered by the victim as a direct result of the offence.

(2)A victim impact statement may include photographs, drawings or poems and other material that relates to the impact of the offence on the victim or to any injury, loss or damage suffered by the victim as a direct result of the offence.

(3)The court may rule as inadmissible the whole or any part of a victim impact statement, including the whole or any part of a medical report attached to it.

(4)It is the intention of Parliament that in interpreting and applying this section, courts have regard to the following—

S. 8L(4) inserted by No. 42/2018 s. 26.

(a)the victim impact statement allows the victim to tell the court about the impact of the offence on the victim;

(b)the victim impact statement is not inadmissible merely because it contains subjective or emotive material.

(5)The court may receive the whole of a victim impact statement despite—

S. 8L(5) inserted by No. 42/2018 s. 26.

(a)an objection being taken to the statement or part of the statement; or

(b)the statement containing inadmissible material.

(6)If the court receives a victim impact statement that contains inadmissible material, the court, in sentencing the offender—

S. 8L(6) inserted by No. 42/2018 s. 26.

(a)is not to rely on the material that the court considers to be inadmissible; and

(b)need not specify which of the material is not being relied on.

Section 8Q provides that only the admissible parts of a victim impact statement may be read aloud in open court.