Sydney siege victims should get terrorism compensation, says minister | Australia news | The GuardianSydney siege victims should get terrorism compensation, says minister | Australia news | The Guardian










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Sydney siege



Sydney siege victims should get terrorism compensation, says minister









New South Wales attorney general Brad Hazzard asks federal government to extend overseas terrorist attack scheme to domestic victims 

















State Emergency Service volunteers carefully carry away a photo tribute of Katrina Dawson and Tori Johnson at Martin Place, Sydney, last month. Photograph: Don Arnold/Getty Images




Daniel Hurst, political correspondent






@danielhurstbne





Monday 12 January 2015 21.49 EST







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The federal compensation scheme for Australian victims of overseas terrorism should be extended to include domestic attacks such as the Sydney siege, the New South Wales government has said.
The NSW attorney general, Brad Hazzard, issued the call for broader coverage in a letter to his federal counterpart, George Brandis.
Australians injured in an overseas terrorist attack, or the close family members of people who have died, can claim payments of up to $75,000 under the federal scheme.
The payments are available for overseas attacks declared by the prime minister to be eligible, which include the 11 September 2001 attacks in the United States, the 2002 and 2005 Bali bombings, and the 2008 Mumbai attacks.
Hazzard said the Martin Place siege, which led to the deaths of barrister Katrina Dawson and Lindt cafe manager Tori Johnson last month, had “caused a lot of questioning about how we can better protect and support our citizens in the face of global extremism”.
“It seems more than a little anomalous that Australian citizens who are the victims of terrorist events on home soil do not get the same access to Commonwealth compensation that they would if they were travelling overseas,” Hazzard said in a statement.
“The NSW government believes that Australians who are the victims of terrorist events should have the same access to compensation regardless of where the act occurs.”
A spokesman for Brandis said the attorney general had received Hazzard’s letter and would “consider the issues raised”.
The prime minister, Tony Abbott, has previously described the Lindt cafe siege as a “brush with terrorism” and on some occasions as a “terrorist incident”. The prime minister labelled the gunman, Man Haron Monis, as “a madman” and said innocent people had been “caught up in the sick fantasy of a deeply disturbed individual”.
Hazzard said people affected by the siege had already used services provided by the NSW victim support scheme, but the state system “should be in addition to the federal terrorism compensation scheme”.
In 2013 the NSW government replaced the state’s compensation scheme for victims of crime with a new support scheme, which was criticised by Labor and advocacy groups for imposing lower caps on payments. The NSW scheme includes a $15,000 limit for a “recognition payment” to a family victim who was financially dependent on a victim who died.
The state government has come under pressure to review the scheme.
The NSW shadow attorney general, Paul Lynch, said the state government was responsible for compensation to victims in its jurisdiction, and argued the call for the federal scheme to be extended was a direct result of the cuts in 2013.
Hazzard was “trying to avoid his responsibilities”, Lynch said.
The federal shadow attorney-general, Mark Dreyfus, called on the NSW government to reconsider its cuts, but he also voiced support for “the federal government looking seriously at providing further compensation for victims of the Lindt attack”.



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Sydney siege




Australian security and counter-terrorism




Australian politics




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George Brandis








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