The effect of the pre-election amendments wasn't to make imprisonment mandatory for serious offences. (The only offence this impacts in the summary jurisdiction is the offence of making threats to kill a person under s 20 of the Crimes Act 1958.) That Act will probably commence mid-year and will prohibit suspended sentences for offences designated as serious offences under s 3 of the Sentencing Act 1991.
(We discussed the Sentencing Amendment Act 2010 here). You may remember that the previous government removed suspended sentences as an available disposition for certain offences just before the last election. Often those released on suspended sentences go on to commit further crimes. As a consequence, many offenders actually incur no real punishment whatsoever for the offence they have committed and make no reparation to the community. A suspended sentence does not subject an offender to any restrictions, community service obligations or reporting requirements. Suspended sentences are a fiction that pretends offenders are serving a term of imprisonment, when in fact they are living freely in the community. The first two bills allow state school principals to ban people from bringing weapons on to school grounds and expand the number and role of Protective Services Officers, respectively.ĭuring the Second Reading of this Bill the Attorney General said, (Explanatory Memorandum here, Statement of Compatibility here, Second Reading speech here.)
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