You have rights as a victim of crime and you can get help in any language.

You are encouraged to call the Victims of Crime Helpline to seek assistance in whichever language you speak.

Your culture matters and you will be provided with a culturally sensitive response.

Strategies are put in place to ensure you are treated with courtesy, respect and dignity and given clear, timely and consistent information about support services no matter what your background is or what language you speak.

Do I need to speak to an interpreter?

Helpline staff speak a number of languages and an interpreter service is available free of charge.

If English is not your first language, the Victims of Crime Helpline can speak to you via the assistance of the Translating and Interpreting Service (TIS).

All you have to do is provide your name, phone number and language to the Victims Support Officer (VSO) and they will do the rest.

The following steps will be taken to arrange your interpreter:

• The VSO will call TIS on your behalf and request an interpreter in your language
• TIS will make contact with an interpreter in your language
• TIS will ask the interpreter to stay on the phone and TIS will call you
• TIS will ensure that the Victims of Crime Helpline VSO is also on the phone as well.

At this stage, you proceed to speak in your language and the interpreter will then speak to the VSO in English.

If you need immediate help, call 000 and ask for the police. Interpreters are available when speaking with police as well.

Is there information available in my language?

Information sheets are available in up to 30 languages.

Information sheets for victims of crime are available on a range of areas including:

• Who is a victim of crime?
• Reporting a crime
• Applying for an Intervention Order
• Court process
• Financial Assistance
• Local support.

These information sheets are available in the following languages:

Arabic, Chinese, Croatian, Greek, Italian, Macedonian, Serbian, Somali, Spanish, Turkish and Vietnamese.

Also available in the languages above is information about:

• Your rights as a victim of crime under the Victims' Charter
• Victim support services.

This information is also available in other languages including:

Amharic, Burmese, Chin, Dari, Dinka, Hindi, Japanese, Khmer, Kurdish, Nuer, Oromo, Pashto, Persian, Swahili, Tagalog, Tamil, Tigrinya and Urdu.

Contact the Victims of Crime Helpline on 1800 819 817.

What if I'm not an Australian citizen can I get help?

Yes, if you are a victim of crime in Victoria, you have rights and you can get help even if you are not an Australian Citizen.

You can get help even if you are only in the country for a short time as a tourist, student or visiting friends and family.