Hundreds of email addresses, some understood to belong to victims of crime, have been “unintentionally” shared in a Victorian courts administrative blunder, leaving at least one victim “very frightened” about the fallout.
The Victims of Crime Assistance Tribunal (VOCAT) sent an email on Thursday afternoon detailing administrative changes to the compensation application process for Victorian victims of crime — but hundreds of email addresses were able to be seen by all recipients.
The ABC counted at least 480 email addresses, many which included first and last names.
VOCAT sent two “recall” emails in the hours afterwards, which were also sighted by the ABC.
“This email was sent in error, and we apologise,” one email said.
“We are working to recall and contain the message. Please disregard and delete the previous email.”
A Court Services Victoria spokesperson confirmed the email addresses belonged to people who had previously contacted the tribunal, and were unintentionally shared.
Privacy breach would add to trauma, lawyer says
Rachel Storey, a solicitor based in Melbourne’s east, said a handful of her clients were sent the email and had their addresses shared, with one client informing her of the privacy breach last week.
Solicitor Rachel Storey said her clients’ privacy has been breached. (ABC News: Tara Whitchurch)
She said this client was a young and “vulnerable” person, who had since received unsolicited legal advice and graphic footage from another person on the email chain.
“He’s very frightened, he doesn’t know what to do,” she said.
“I’ve been telling my clients to change their email addresses very quickly.”
Ms Storey said applicants for victims of crime compensation were some of the most vulnerable people in contact with the legal system, and the group included victims of attempted murder and family violence.
While she said the privacy breach appeared to be an administrative error, she said it would cause additional trauma to applicants.
“They don’t need this — they should know that when you apply to a court, your details are going to be safe,” she said.
“We don’t know all of the situations that these people have been in or have experienced, so to add to that trauma is just horrific.”
Tribunal intended to support victims of crime
Jeremy King, principal lawyer for Robinson Gill, said it was a serious privacy breach.
“There are a variety of different victims who have made applications to the tribunal, some who have very, very sensitive applications,” he said.
Jeremy King from Robertson Gill said the privacy breach was serious. (ABC News: Scott Jewell)
Mr King said the tribunal was set up to make the lives of victims of crime easier, often providing financial compensation or mental health support such as counselling to affected people.
“You’ve got a tribunal that’s supposed to help people, and unfortunately, in this situation, they’ve potentially done something that’s probably distressed a number of people.”
Ms Storey has called on VOCAT to introduce additional financial compensation for those who have had their details disclosed.
VOCAT ‘unreservedly apologises’ for the error
A Court Services Victoria spokesperson said the email was “a general update about changes to procedure and did not contain any sensitive information”.
“The email was recalled, but some emails were opened,” they said.
The spokesperson said VOCAT has contacted everyone impacted, “unreservedly” apologised for the error and was looking at measures to ensure it did not happen again.
“VOCAT is mindful of the distress the unauthorised sharing of email addresses can cause and offers of support are being made to all involved.”