Media Release
Embargoed until 12 a.m. (AEDT), Thursday 4 February 2016
A report released today shows Victoria’s courts are increasingly adding community correction orders (CCOs) to prison sentences rather than setting a non-parole period.
The report, Parole and Sentencing: Research Report by the Sentencing Advisory Council, examines changes in the setting of non-parole periods by Victorian courts over the five years ending 30 June 2015.
The report reveals a decline in the practice of setting non-parole periods as part of a prison sentence in the higher courts (the Supreme and County Courts) and the Magistrates’ Court. The approximate proportion of all prison sentences that included a non-parole period declined from 95% in 2010–11 to 70% in 2014–15 in the higher courts and from 22% to 10% in the Magistrates’ Court. (These percentages are found in Figures 1 and 4 in the report.)
This shift is due to a number of factors, including the phasing out of suspended sentences and reforms to the parole system. But the trend away from non-parole periods was accelerated by a change to the Sentencing Act in September 2014, which increased the maximum prison sentence that can be combined with a CCO from three months to two years. Courts have the discretion whether or not to set a non-parole period for sentences of between one and two years. For sentences within that range, courts can now choose to impose a non-parole period, a CCO, neither, or both.
The report reveals that the higher courts, in particular, have chosen to combine prison with a CCO rather than impose a non-parole period for prison sentences of between one and two years. Prior to the change in the law, none of the prison sentences of one to two years imposed in the higher courts was combined with a CCO, while approximately 94% received a non-parole period. In the June quarter of 2015, less than a year after the legislative change, approximately 72% of these prison sentences imposed in the higher courts were combined with a CCO, while just over 20% included a non-parole period. (This is illustrated in Figure 10 in the report.)
Council Chair Emeritus Professor Arie Freiberg said, 'The higher courts’ preference for imposing CCOs instead of setting non-parole periods suggests that the range of conditions available for a CCO makes it an appropriate order for supervision of an offender in the community after a short prison sentence.'
Parole and Sentencing: Research Report is available on the Council’s website.
What Is a Non-Parole Period?
A non-parole period is the minimum term set by a court that a prisoner must serve in prison before he or she is eligible to apply for supervised and conditional release into the community on parole. A court can only set a non-parole period for prison sentences of one year or more. Courts have the discretion to set (or not set) a non-parole period for terms of between one and two years. For sentences of more than two years, there is a general requirement for a non-parole period to be set, unless the judge or the magistrate thinks it is inappropriate because of the kind of offences that were committed or the offender’s criminal history.
What Is a Community Correction Order (CCO)?
A CCO is a very flexible order that sits in the middle of the sentencing hierarchy. CCOs are less severe than imprisonment but more severe than fines. CCOs replaced previous community orders including community-based orders, home detention, combined custody and treatment orders, and intensive correction orders. As the name suggests, a CCO is served in the community, although it may be imposed in addition to a fine or a prison term of up to two years. A CCO can last up to two years if imposed in the Magistrates’ Court for a single offence or for as long as the maximum term of imprisonment for the offence, if imposed in a higher court (the Supreme or County Court). All offenders sentenced to a CCO must abide by a standard set of terms (e.g. reporting obligations, not leaving Victoria without permission). Each CCO must also have at least one additional condition imposed (e.g. unpaid community work, drug and alcohol treatment, curfew).
