The Financial Assistance Scheme (FAS) is making important updates to the portal and website to introduce new online functionality for FAS applicants, authorised representatives and service providers. This enhanced functionality will be available for use from early August.
Applicants will be unable to request payment of authorised future expenses via the FAS portal from 9:00pm on Thursday 31 July to 8:00am on Monday 4 August, with the portal completely unavailable from 5:00pm on Friday 1 August to 8:00am on Monday 4 August while we make essential updates.
This page will have more information once the portal has been updated and the new online functionality is available.
We appreciate your patience as we make changes to enhance the FAS portal and apologise for any inconvenience while the portal is offline.
Updates to the FAS portal
From early August, applicants will be able to use the FAS portal to apply:
- to vary their Victims of Crime Assistance Tribunal (VOCAT) award
- to vary their FAS assistance
- for an internal review both via the portal or via a link on the website
- to transfer their account to a new authorised representative, remove their current authorised representative to self-manage their application or add an authorised representative if they previously represented themselves.
Applicants will also see more information in the portal in the ‘manage application’ view of their finalised application:
- When selecting ‘View detailed payment summary’ they will be able to see more information about the assistance they have been granted
- When selecting ‘Claim an Authorised Future Expense’ applicants will now see more detailed information about the approved expenses. They will also be able to select the expense that they are requesting to be paid and provide an invoice or receipt for that expense.
See below for more detail on these updates to the portal.
How these updates impact VOCAT and FAS variations
From early August, applicants with a VOCAT award who have transitioned to the FAS and applicants with FAS assistance will be able to apply for a variation through the online portal.
Variation applications that have already been submitted via email
The FAS will continue to process variation applications that have already been submitted via email. These applicants will not need to take any further action. They should continue to apply for authorised future expenses and communicate with the FAS about their application via email until further notification is provided.
The FAS will undergo a process to digitise applications submitted via email and will contact applicants once the process is complete. Once digitised, applicants will be able to apply for payment of authorised future expenses via the online portal.
Applicants may choose to use the portal for any future variation requests to VOCAT awards or FAS assistance.
Submitting a legal costs application under the new functionality
Lawyer authorised representatives will be able to apply for legal costs in relation to any new variation applications through the FAS portal. Legal costs for variations submitted via email will continue to be managed along with the offline submission.
How these updates impact authorised future expenses
The updated portal will allow applicants requesting payment for authorised future expenses to see more information about assistance that has been approved by the FAS. Applicants will be able to match invoices and receipts to awards and grants of assistance. Applicants will also be able to view the outstanding amounts available under their VOCAT award or FAS assistance.
Applicants with a VOCAT award will still need to transition to the FAS to claim any authorised future expenses awarded by VOCAT.
How these updates impact authorised representative transfers
From early August, applicants and authorised representatives will be able to make a request via the FAS portal or through the enquiry form on the FAS website to:
- transfer the application to a different authorised representative
- remove the authorised representative from the account so that the applicant can represent themselves
- add an authorised representative where the applicant previously represented themselves.
Where an application is being transferred to the applicant or a new authorised representative, they will need to have set up a FAS portal account and meet the FAS’s verification requirements.
How these updates impact internal reviews
From early August, applicants and authorised representatives will be able to apply for an internal review via a new digital webform available on the website and in the FAS portal.
All internal review applications already submitted to the FAS via email will continue to be processed by the FAS and do not require any further action from the applicant.
Updates to the FAS website
From early August, new functionality will be available on the FAS website:
- Service providers will be able to submit invoices directly through a new digital webform instead of emailing invoices to the FAS.
- Applicants will be able to apply for an internal review via a webform instead of emailing a form to the FAS. Applicants can also apply for an internal review through the portal.
- Applicants and authorised representatives will be able to request to transfer the application to a new authorised representative or to self-manage their application. This request can also be made through the portal.
For more information on the service provider payment requests, see below.
How these updates impact service provider payments requests
From early August, service providers will be able to use a digital webform available on the FAS website to upload invoices for payment. The FAS will give applicants without legal representation notice that they have 5 days to object to the payment being made to the service provider. If the FAS does not hear from the applicant within 5 days, the FAS will assume that they consent to the payment and the invoice will be paid.
The FAS will continue to process service provider payment requests already submitted via email. However, service providers will be encouraged to use the webform for new payment requests.
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