A Canberra family was left battling for victims-of-crime compensation on behalf of an elderly relative three years after the woman died and six years after she was sexually assaulted.
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The case is highlighted in an ACT Ombudsman's report, published yesterday, which found victims of violent crimes were facing unreasonable delays for assistance under the ACT Crimes Act.
The investigation found the territory's processes for dealing with claims were inadequate, particularly for victims who had not hired lawyers.
The Ombudsman, Alison Larkins, wants the Justice and Community Safety Directorate to develop systems for assessing victims of crime compensation claims.
A directorate spokeswoman said the ACT government would consider the recommendations and how to improve the claims process for victims, including the speed with which their applications were dealt with.
The investigation considered two complaints by victims of violent crimes, or their relatives, about the handling of their applications for financial help.
Ms Larkins said in both cases the victims experienced ''unreasonable delays, received unsatisfactory or inconsistent information, and were at a disadvantage in their capacity to negotiate''.
In one case, a woman, ''Ms A'', applied for assistance in August 2007 and waited until January 2010 for her request to be approved following a 2009 Supreme Court trial of her case.
''In response to our inquiries, the ACT Government Solicitor raised several complex legal issues that it said might have interfered with the conduct of the trial and finalisation of Ms A's application,'' Ms Larkins said. ''However, I have concluded that there are provisions in the act, and in criminal justice proceedings generally, that could have been used to address these concerns.
''Ms A may have been spared from such excessive delay had a case management system for tracking applications been in use.''
The second complaint involved an elderly woman who was assaulted in 2005 and whose daughter submitted a claim on her behalf in 2006.
The woman died in 2008 and her daughter lodged a complaint in 2011 about the length of time it had taken to process her application.
Ms Larkins said the assessment of claims had evolved in an ''ad hoc'' manner and her investigation found the Government Solicitor did not have ''any policy or procedures in place'' to deal with applications.
Her recommendations include the appointment of an officer to track applications and new procedures to ensure they are assessed more quickly.
The JACS spokeswoman said Ms A's claim was a matter ''upon which there continues to be disagreement''. The second case had been resolved promptly once an application for expenses was made by the woman's daughter.
The report said of 407 claim matters received since 2008, 187 had been finalised, 53 remained active, 46 rejected, while the remainder were waiting on further information, or had been withdrawn or dismissed, or an application was never formally lodged.
The investigation also found the Victims of Crime Act ''imposes a cap that significantly limits the legal representation available''.
