Media Release
Embargo 4 June 2013 1:00am AEST
A research report released today by the Sentencing Advisory Council is the first to use a new database of reoffending statistics – a major innovation for Victoria.
The report, Reoffending Following Sentencing in the Magistrates’ Court of Victoria, presents analysis of seven years’ data on sentencing outcomes from Victoria’s busiest court.
Offender’s prior history. The study finds that the strongest predictor of reoffending is an offender’s recent prior history of offending. Offenders who have been previously sentenced for an offence are significantly more likely to reoffend than those who have not been sentenced before.
Other predictors. The study also finds that:
- offenders who have had more previous sentences are more likely to reoffend
- offenders previously sentenced for property-related offences (e.g. theft) are more likely to reoffend than those previously sentenced for other types of offences
- offenders under the age of 25 are more likely to reoffend than those aged 25 or over.
Sentence type. While offenders who have been previously sentenced to imprisonment are slightly more likely to reoffend than those sentenced to non- custodial sentences – and to return to reoffending sooner after their release – the impact of sentence type on the likelihood of reoffending is small compared with other characteristics of offenders and their histories. This finding is consistent with many other research studies in this area.
The Chair of the Sentencing Advisory Council, Professor Arie Freiberg, said, 'The development of this database is a significant step forward in our ability to examine and understand the effect that sentencing has on reoffending.
'For the first time we are able to follow individual offenders in the database as they appear and reappear for sentencing in the Victorian courts.
'Our analysis shows that the type of sentence imposed has a small effect on the likelihood of reoffending when compared with other characteristics of the offence and the offender.'
Reoffending Following Sentencing in the Magistrates’ Court of Victoria is available for download from the Sentencing Advisory Council website.
