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Have Your Say on Maximum Penalties

The Sentencing Advisory Council today released a consultation paper on the offence of sexual penetration with a child under the age of 16. This project arose in response to a request from the Attorney-General to consider the adequacy of the maximum penalties that currently apply to this offence.

There are three different maximum penalties for the offence of sexual penetration with a child under the age of 16. The relevant maximum penalty depends on the circumstances in which the offence was committed.

• Where a child is aged under 10, the maximum penalty is 25 years' imprisonment.
• Where a child is aged between 10 and under 16 and is under the care, supervision or authority of the offender, the maximum penalty is 15 years' imprisonment.
• Where a child is aged between 10 and under 16 and is not under the care, supervision or authority of the offender, the maximum penalty is 10 years' imprisonment.

The consultation paper uses case studies to illustrate situations in which this type of offending can occur and concludes with a series of questions to assist with making a submission.

Submissions can be forwarded to the Council by mail, fax or email by Friday 1 May 2009.

A separate publication released today, Sentencing for Sexual Penetration Offences: A Statistical Report, analyses sentencing outcomes in Victoria for sexual penetration offences. The consultation paper and statistical report are both available from this website.