A compensation order under s 85B of the Sentencing Act 1991 (Vic) is not rendered penal by the offender's inability to pay, and the court is not prevented from making such an order where it has been unable to ascertain the offender's financial circumstances (s 85A(2)). The focus of compensation is on the actual impact on the victim of the commission of the offence, and the offender must take victims as they were affected by the crime, analogous to the tortfeasor's eggshell skull rule. Compensation orders are enforceable as judgment debts, including through bankruptcy proceedings.
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