Fines as a sentencing option

On 16 November 2005, the Attorney General asked us to evaluate fines as a sentencing option.

Interim report

We published our Interim Report: The Effectiveness of Fines as a Sentencing Option: Court-imposed fines and penalty notices (PDF, 818.3 KB) in October 2006.

Some recommendations were implemented by the:

• Fines Amendment Act 2008 (NSW)
• Fines Further Amendment Act 2008 (NSW)

Monograph

We published a Monograph by Katherine McFarlane and Patrizia Poletti - Judicial Perceptions of Fines as a Sentencing Option: A Survey of NSW Magistrates (PDF, 443.3 KB) in August 2007.

Terms of reference

We received the following terms of reference on 16 November 2005:

Pursuant to section 100J(1)(d) of the Crimes (Sentencing Procedure) Act 1999 I refer the following issues to the Sentencing Council for consideration and report:

(a) Fines

(i) The effectiveness of fines as a sentencing option;

(ii) Consequences for those who do not pay fines, paying particular regard to increases in imprisonment for offences against sections 25 and 25A of the Road Transport (Driver Licensing) Act 1998.