Tasmanian Government Commits To Phasing Out Suspended Sentences
Thursday 28 April 2016 @ 11.52 a.m. | Crime | Legal Research
The Tasmanian Government has committed to phasing out suspended sentences by the end of this year by adopting recommendations from a model developed by the Sentencing Advisory Council. The model involves replacing suspended sentences with a range of options, including home detention, alcohol and drug treatment orders, and a new intermediate sanction called a “community correction order” (CCO).
The abolition of suspended sentences was an election commitment by the Tasmanian Liberal Government. In July 2014, Attorney-General and Minister for Justice Vanessa Goodwin commissioned the Sentencing Advisory Council to examine how suspended sentencing is currently used, and to make proposals as to alternative options.
Suspended Sentencing in Tasmania
Tasmanian law currently allows courts to impose fully or partly suspended sentences under the Sentencing Act 1997 (Tas).
The report acknowledges:
“Suspended sentences are a contentious sentencing option. They are viewed variously as either the penultimate criminal sanction (operating as a sanction like a ‘sword’ that hangs over an offender’s head as a threat of future imprisonment if the offender reoffends or otherwise breaches the sanction) or as in reality no punishment at all (a ‘butter knife’).”
The report found that “Tasmania’s use of suspended sentences is higher than in all other Australian jurisdictions”, with 37.99% of offenders receiving a fully suspended sentence from the Supreme Court of Tasmania in 2013-14 (compared to a national average of 16.7%). In the Supreme Court, suspended sentences were most commonly imposed for property offences (48.4%), drug offences (22.5%) and non-sexual offences against the person (16.7%), with the median length of sentences being six months for fully suspended sentences, and ten months for partially suspended sentences. 34% of offenders breached their sentence by committing an imprisonable offence.
Community Correction Orders
The Council recommended the introduction of the CCO as a key plank of replacing suspended sentences, saying it would incorporate aspects of the current community service and probation orders. It recommended the CCOs have “maximum flexibility to address the offender and the offence” and include an option for the court to make an order with only “core conditions” that the offender not commit an imprisonable offence. This would effectively function like a suspended sentence, although the Council said:
“the CCO with core conditions is more onerous for an offender given the restrictions and reporting requirements and so addresses the concerns that arose in relation to a suspended sentence that the offender ‘walks free’ with no consequences.”
Financial Modelling
The Council commissioned a specialist report to examine the potential costs of the scheme. The report conducted modelling and found that:
- Scenario 1, replacing fully suspended sentences with equivalent terms of imprisonment, would cost around $50.9 million per annum;
- Scenario 2, replacing fully suspended sentences with CCOs of 12 or 24 months, would cost around $34.0 million per annum; and
- Scenario 3, replacing fully suspended sentences with alternatives including fines, imprisonment, CCOs, home detention and treatment orders, according to the offence type, would cost around $30.6 million per annum.
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