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Statistics on Homicide

12 Sept 2005

The Sentencing Advisory Council today released three reports containing statistics on sentencing outcomes for persons sentenced for murder, manslaughter and culpable driving causing death in Victoria between 1998/99 and 2003/04.

These reports form part of a statistical series that presents statistics on sentencing in Victoria. The first analyses sentencing trends for murder, the second focuses on manslaughter, and the third focuses on culpable driving causing death.

Council Chair Professor Arie Freiberg said the three Sentencing Snapshot reports contained previously unpublished statistics on the gender, age and the type of sentence imposed on persons sentenced for these offences.

Professor Freiberg pointed out that "the circumstances in which murder, manslaughter and culpable driving causing death are committed vary widely and this is reflected in the range of sentence types and lengths imposed for these offences."

Sentencing Snapshot No. 4 reports that between 1998/99 and 2003/04, all persons sentenced for murder received a custodial sentence. 16 men (9% of offenders sentenced for murder) were imprisoned for life, and in three of these cases, the court refused to fix a non-parole period, with the consequence that those offenders will never be released from gaol. Offenders not imprisoned for life were on average sentenced to approximately 18 years' imprisonment with a non-parole period of around 14 years.

The Council found that where imprisonment was not the sentencing outcome for murder, the courts imposed either a custodial supervision order or a hospital security order, as a result of the offenders' mental disorder.

Sentencing Snapshot No. 5 reports that between 1998/99 and 2003/04 92% of people sentenced for manslaughter received a custodial sentence.

The Council's findings also show that, on average, women sentenced for murder or manslaughter attracted slightly shorter imprisonment terms and shorter non-parole periods than men.

Sentencing Snapshot No. 6 reports that between 1998/99 and 2003/04 90% of persons sentenced for culpable driving causing death received a custodial sentence. In more recent years, the courts have sentenced more people to gaol for this offence and for longer periods. Unlike murder and manslaughter, imprisonment terms for men and women sentenced for this offence were almost identical.

Professor Freiberg called for anyone with an interest in the topic to read the papers.