Victims, loved ones demand crime compo overhaul

Victims and the loved ones of victims of crime are calling for an overhaul of the compensation system, saying offenders are better off than those they hurt.

Peter Simpson's nine-year-old daughter Ebony was abducted and murdered on her way home from school in August 1992.

Her killer, Andrew Garforth, is spending life behind bars, but Mr Simpson said he believed justice was yet to be served.

"As I said on the day of the sentencing, Ebony got the death sentence, and the Simpson family got the life sentence, and he got bed and breakfast," he told A Current Affair.

On top of the emotional trauma of losing a child, Mr Simpson faced heavy financial burdens, including loss of income and travel expenses during the court proceedings.

Through the NSW Victims of Crime Compensation Scheme, the family received a lump sum payment of $50,000.

He said equating the payment with the loss of his daughter was an "insult".

And under the current system, he said, it paid to be criminal.

"It costs the state a lot of money to keep those people in there," he said.

"Far, far, far more than they ever spend on compensation for people left behind after murder."

After Angelo Cusumano was murdered by thieves at the Gamesmen Computer Store in south-west Sydney in December 1995, his widow Mary also received a payment of $50,000.

"And a lot of people might think that's an awful lot of money, but when you've got four children, you've got a mortgage, you've got funeral costs, and you've got to get out of bed every day and think, 'What am I going to do, how am I going to get through this day' - it's not a lot," she said.

"That would be gone in the first year."

Victims of crime are entitled to different payments in each state and territory.

In Western Australia and Queensland, compensation is capped at $75,000.

In Victoria and South Australia, the maximum payout is $100,000.

That falls to $50,000 in NSW, the ACT and Tasmania, and $40,000 in the Northern Territory.

The dependents and relatives of murder victims are entitled to even less.

Peter Whitehead and Kylie Field were the victims of a random home invasion in Brisbane in 2016.

Peter has been unable to work since the attack and face mounting medical bills, but only received $3500 each in compensation.

"You feel, as a victim, like we didn't ask for this to happen," Ms Field said.

"And then we have to go through hurdles and hurdles and paperwork and phone calls and it's just, they treat you like you're not a victim, like we're the offenders."

Recently in South Australia, the family of Whyalla grandmother Dianne Rogan was awarded $450,000 from her killer's estate - almost 10 times what they received from the government fund.

Compensation lawyer Julie Wyatt said civil litigation carried risk, but legal representatives aimed to "manage" that risk.

"We make the enquiry as soon as possible in relation to the offender to see if they do hold any assets, for example, a house or other property," she said.

But it is not an option open to everybody.

Ms Cusumano said if she had no children she would have "exhausted" everything she had pursuing civil action.

"But I had to raise my children, that was my main focus," she said.

While Mr Simpson has called for a parliamentary inquiry into the issue to bring victims' stories out into the open.

"I'm not sure too many people really understand the depth of the problems we face," he said.