Serious offenders are defined in Part 2A of the Sentencing Act 1991 (Vic). They include:
- serious sexual offenders
- serious arson offenders
- serious drug offenders
- serious violent offenders.
When sentencing a serious offender to imprisonment for more than one offence, the court must order each sentence to be served cumulatively (one after the other) unless it directs otherwise.
The courts must regard community protection as the primary purpose of sentencing serious offenders. For this reason, the court may impose a longer prison sentence on a serious offender than is proportionate to the gravity of the offence.
Some offences sentenced under the serious offender provisions are listed in our Guide to Sentencing Schemes in Victoria.
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