About SACStat

SACStat is a database of sentencing statistics for offences sentenced in Victoria's adult criminal courts. The database includes statistics for over 250 offences sentenced in the higher courts of Victoria (the County Court and the Supreme Court) between 1 July 2016 and 30 June 2021, and over 500 offences sentenced in the Magistrates' Court of Victoria between 1 July 2018 and 30 June 2021.

Which offences are included in SACStat?

The higher courts data includes offences sentenced under Victorian legislation, Commonwealth legislation and common law. The Magistrates' Court data includes offences sentenced under Victorian legislation and common law but does not currently include offences under Commonwealth legislation.

To be included in SACStat, an offence must have had at least 10 charges sentenced in the higher courts of Victoria over the five-year period and at least 40 charges sentenced in the Magistrates' Court of Victoria over the three-year period.

What data is included for each offence?

SACStat provides data on outcomes for charges and cases sentenced in the Victorian courts:

  • a charge is a single proven count of an offence
  • a case is a collection of one or more charges sentenced against a person or company at the one hearing.

For each offence on SACStat, the sentencing data shows:

  • the number of charges and cases sentenced
  • sentence types imposed for charges and cases
  • sentence lengths and fine amounts for charges and cases
  • age and gender breakdown of offenders for cases.

The sentence types shown for charges represent the principal sentence (i.e., the most serious penalty) imposed on the charge. For example, it is possible for both a fine and a community correction order to be imposed on a single charge. This charge would be counted only once and would be included in SACStat as a community correction order for the relevant offence, not as a fine.

The sentence types shown for cases represent the principal sentence imposed in the case. This is the most serious sentence type that applies at the case level. For example, if a person receives a fine and an adjourned undertaking in a case, only the fine is counted. The one exception is combined orders of imprisonment with a community correction order - these are recorded as a distinct sentence type.

Data on charges is included for all offences on SACStat. Data on cases is included for all Magistrates' Court offences and for higher courts offences with 10 or more cases.

For the data viewing options available on SACStat, see our How to use SACStat page. For further information on the data in SACStat, see our About the data page.