When we will reach out
First contact with a victim liaison officer
A victim liaison officer (VLO) will call you to introduce themselves as soon as the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions (ODPP) receives your contact information. During the call, they will explain the current status of your case, the role of the ODPP and the victim liaison service, ask how and when you'd like to be contacted, suggest support services if needed and confirm your details.
After the call, you'll receive written information that includes a summary of your conversation, helpful fact sheets and the contact numbers for your VLO and our victim liaison service contact centre.
If your case is still in the Magistrates Court and you haven’t heard from a VLO, the Queensland Police Prosecution Corps (PPC) may still be looking after it and the case has not been passed to the ODPP or the case may continue to be managed by the PPC.
Ongoing contact
Your VLO will keep in regular contact with you every three months or when there are important updates about your case. We will seek your view as to how frequently you wish to be contacted. In addition to the VLO reaching out, victims and witnesses can login to the victim and witness portal (if registered) to access key dates, view correspondence or update contact information and/or ring or email the victim liaison service contact centre.
We will notify you of events and provide information such as:
- the case moving to a higher court
- the date that a matter will be next heard in court (scheduled hearings, trial, sentencing)
- information or updates about custody status (bail)
- an appeal
- details for meeting with one of our legal staff
- information about attending court to give evidence as witness
- referrals to support services for specialised assistance, such as in-court support, financial assistance or counselling.
VLOs usually won’t contact you specifically about court mention dates, as these are quick check-ins between the ODPP and the court, and they may happen every month or more. You are able to login (if registered) to the victims' portal as all mention dates as well as key other dates will be available online. You can contact your VLO at any stage of the matter, to check in with the progress of it.
If your case is transferred
Your matter may be transferred back to the PPC in some instances. This means that the ODPP is no longer handling the prosecution of the criminal matter. If this happens, your VLO will let you know and give you the contact details for the arresting police officer managing your case.
Your matter may also be transferred to a different ODPP office. If this happens, a VLO from a new office will be assigned to you. Your current VLO will give you their contact details and the new VLO will reach out to introduce themselves.
If you have questions or need help, you can also call the victim liaison service contact centre.
Keep your contact details updated
A VLO or a legal staff member from the ODPP may need to contact you at short notice to update you about a court hearing. For this reason, it is important that you keep your contact details updated.
Please notify your VLO of any changes to your contact details or reach out to central victim liaison service contact centre. You can also request to update your details directly via the victims' portal (if registered).
Register to access the ODPP victims' portal - giving you greater flexibility and choice in how you view key information such as court events and decisions.