Standard non-parole periods

This project is now complete. The Council provided the Attorney General with an interim report and a final report:

• Standard non-parole periods: Final report (PDF, 1.0 MB)
  
• Standard non-parole periods - sexual offences against children: Interim report (PDF, 554.3 KB) (released 14 October 2014).
  

Consultation paper

The Council released a consultation paper (PDF, 241.5 KB) to seek the views of stakeholders.

The paper raises issues around three main questions:

• What offences should be standard non-parole period (SNPP) offences under the SNPP scheme and how should those offences be identified?
• At what level should the SNPPs be set for those offences?
• Who should identify/recommend changes to the SNPP offences in future?

Read the SNPP Submissions received.

Recent amendments to the SNPP provisions

As background to this review, we noted that the Government implemented the recommendations of the NSW Law Reform Commission to clarify the operation of the SNPP scheme in the Crimes (Sentencing Procedure) Amendment (Standard Non-parole Periods) Act 2013.

Terms of reference

On 11 September 2013, the Attorney General asked the Council to review and advise on options for reforming the following aspects of the standard minimum non-parole period scheme:

• the offences which should be included in the standard non-parole period Table
  
• the standard non-parole periods for those offences, and
  
• the process by which any further offences should be considered for inclusion in the Table and any further standard non-parole periods set.
  

The reporting date was 20 December 2013.

In light of the current Parliamentary Select Committee inquiry into child sexual assault offences, the Attorney General asked the Council to prioritise reviewing standard non-parole periods for child sexual assault offences and provide an expedited report by 31 October 2013.