Baird defends compensation changes

NSW Premier Mike Baird has defended the coalition government's decision in 2013 to cut compensation payments to victims of crime, saying the existing scheme was too expensive.

The decision to lower maximum payments from $50,000 to $15,000 means victims of the Sydney cafe siege are entitled to far less compensation than they would have received before the change.

"The scheme we inherited was unsustainable," Mr Baird told reporters in Sydney in Friday.

"That scheme was redirected, at the time of the changes, rather than just to payments, towards increased counselling and support."

He defended that decision, saying counselling had been of great help to the siege survivors.