This report examines the gulf between sentencing knowledge and practice, and makes recommendations regarding the measures that need to be undertaken to bridge that gap, so that law-makers can bring sentencing practice in line with current knowledge and make it fairer and more efficient.

This paper provides a foundational framework outlining the clear need to reform the imprisonment of women in Australia. It seeks to highlight the key issues and emphasise the urgent need to reduce rates of female imprisonment through a nationally consistent approach.

This report reviews 20 years of data in the Council's 'Sentencing Snapshots' to identify changes in sentencing practices in the higher courts for a select number of offences.

Australia is putting more people in prison, despite a fall in the number of criminal offenders. This paper looks at what is driving these trends, the costs on society and whether there are alternatives to prison that still keep the community safe, but at a...

The purpose of this paper is to highlight the rising rates of women’s incarceration in Victoria and to build foundations for an alternative trajectory.

This document reports on the activities of the New Zealand National Preventive Mechanism (NPM) during the period 1 July 2018 – 30 June 2019. The NPM is a robust system to examine, and where appropriate make recommendations to improve, the care and treatment of people...

From July to October 2020, This Life conducted extensive research into the current status of the implementation of the Cambodian Law on Juvenile Justice. This document summarises the main findings of this research, noting that Cambodia has made slow, but significant, advances in juvenile justice...

Justice Reinvestment programmes take many forms, but most share a simple aim - to redirect spending on criminal justice into social justice initiatives that strengthen communities and reduce social harms, including offending behaviours. This report explores the potential of Justice Reinvestment as an alternative to...

This report was prepared for the Justice Reform Initiative, which is a collaboration of some of Australia’s most respected experts on criminal justice. The report looks at the dimensions of the nation's rising prison population, the key drivers of that growth and the communities most...

This paper compares two cases of long-term detention on the basis of claimed risks to public safety in New Zealand, a common law jurisdiction. It considers whether either of the men or both are reliably or adequately shown to be dangerous, given difficulties in risk...

A 'time served prison sentence' is a sentence of imprisonment imposed on an offender where the length of imprisonment is equal to the amount of time that the offender has spent on remand in custody. This report analyses the proportion of prison sentences that were...

This inquiry examined ways to reduce the number of people flowing through Queensland’s prison system, whilst improving outcomes for the broader community. This final report outlines the Queensland Productivity Commission's findings.

This overview summarises 10 key legislative changes to sentencing law in Victoria from 2018, including the introduction of standard sentences, Category A and B serious youth offences and youth control orders. It also looks at two judicial decisions that will affect the way that sentencing...

In September 2018, the Queensland government directed the Queensland Productivity Commission to undertake an inquiry into imprisonment and recidivism. This report summarises the commission's early findings and nominates areas where further information is sought.

This chapter reports on prison custody and a range of community corrections orders and programs for adult offenders which are delivered separately by the eight states and territories.

The Queensland government has asked the Commission to undertake an inquiry to determine how government resources and policies may be best used to reduce imprisonment and recidivism to improve outcomes for the community.

This research shows that a disproportionate number of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander (ATSI) people are named on DVOs, charged with contraventions of DVOs and significantly more likely than non-Indigenous people to receive a sentence of imprisonment for a contravention of a DVO, compared to...

The Serious Offenders Bill 2018 was introduced to the Victorian Legislative Assembly on 8 May 2018. It seeks to establish a civil, protective scheme under which offenders who have served custodial sentences for certain serious sexual and/or violent offences, and who present an unacceptable risk...

The Queensland Sentencing Advisory Council has been asked to review the penalties imposed on sentence for criminal offences arising from the death of a child (child homicide). This paper briefly describes the context of the review, and provides information about child homicide and relevant offences...

Burgeoning numbers of untried prisoners are fuelling an unsustainable rise in Australia’s prison population. Only a shift in resources will bring the figure down, writes Rick Sarre.