Updated Statistics Shed New Light on Sentencing Outcomes in Victoria
The Sentencing Statistics section of our website has just been updated with new data on sentencing and on adult prisoners.
The sentencing data describe the broad trends within the higher courts, the Magistrates' Court and the Children's Court in Victoria. These data are located under the 'People Sentenced' and 'Sentencing Outcomes' sections of our website.
The data on adult prisoners examine trends and rates of imprisonment in Victoria and across Australia. They also show various characteristics of Victorian prisoners such as legal status, offence type, time in custody and rates of return to prison. These are found under the 'Adult Prisoners' part of our website.
Some interesting facts contained in the new data include:
- From 2006-07 to 2007-08 the number of people sentenced increased in the Magistrates’ Court by 9% and in the higher courts by 5%, but declined in the Children’s Court by 16%.
- In 2007-08 the most common sentence imposed in both the Children’s Court (53%) and the Magistrates’ Court (56%) was a fine, while defendants in the higher courts were most likely to receive a sentence of imprisonment (45%).
- For people placed on a Criminal Justice Diversion Program in 2007-08, the most common conditions undertaken were a donation (34%), followed by an apology to the victim (18%), a letter of gratitude to the informant (17%), and compensation to the victim (9%).
- For male prisoners, the three most commonly occurring offences in 2008 were sex offences (17.5%), unlawful entry with intent (12.1%) and assault (11.9%). For females the most common offences were government security/justice procedure offences (20.7%), drug offences (14.0%) and other property offences (12.9%).
- In 2008 Victoria’s imprisonment rate was the second lowest of any state or territory, at 103.7 prisoners per 100,000 adults. The Northern Territory recorded the highest rate at 609.7, while New South Wales had the third highest rate at 195.3. Nationally, the rate of imprisonment was 168.7.