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Judging rape: Public attitudes and sentencing 2011

With an average of 7.6 years (90.8 months), sentences for sexual offences (as the primary offence) are among the longest, positioned below homicide and related at 14.5 years (174.2 months), and just above robbery and extortion at 7.0 years (83.8 months) and acts intended to cause injury at 3.0 years (36.3 months).

Statistics also indicate that the majority of sexual assault defendants proven guilty receive custodial sentences.

"A suspended sentence is a prison term which is suspended subject to the condition of good behaviour (such as not to commit another offence) for a set period" (Sentencing Advisory Council, 2007). Suspended sentences are not included in Figure 2, although notably do fall under the category of "custodial sentence" in most Australian jurisdictions. Figure 3 shows the proportion of sexual assault defendants found guilty in Australian higher courts that received suspended sentences.

Download: Judging rape: Public attitudes and sentencing ( 237Kb )

Source: Australian Centre for the Study of Sexual Assault

Sentencing Snapshots June 2011

Indecent act with a child under 16.

This Sentencing Snapshot describes sentencing outcomes for the offence of indecent act with a child under 16 and details the age and gender of people sentenced for this offence in the County Court of Victoria between 2005/06 and 2009/10.

Download: Snapshot_113 ( 143Kb )

Sexual penetration of a child aged between 10 and 16.

This Sentencing Snapshot describes sentencing outcomes for the offence of sexual penetration of a child aged between 10 and 16 and details the age and gender of people sentenced for this offence in the County Court of Victoria between 2005/06 and 2009/10.

Download: Snapshot_114 ( 155Kb )

Source: The Sentencing Advisory Council

NSW Sentencing snapshot - child sexual assault - 2009-2010

Over the two year period 2009 and 2010, 431 offenders were convicted of child sexual assault. 97 per cent of those convicted were male and 67 per cent of offenders had no prior convictions for child or adult sexual assault in the preceding five years. The most common penalty imposed on an offender convicted of child sexual assault was a prison sentence. Prison penalties were imposed on 75 per cent of offenders convicted of an offence of aggravated child sexual assault, with an average aggregate sentence of 68 months, and an average minimum term of 39 months.

Download: NSW Sentencing snapshot - child sexual assault - 2009-2010 ( 527Kb )

Source: NSW Law link

NSW Sentencing snapshot - Sexual assault - 2009-2010

The most common penalty imposed on an offender convicted of sexual assault was a prison sentence. Prison penalties were imposed on 86 per cent of offenders convicted of an offence of aggravated sexual assault, with an average aggregate sentence of 77 months, and an average minimum term of 48 months. As the number of prior convictions increased the proportion of offenders given a prison sentence increased. For example, of those convicted of aggravated sexual assault offences, 77 per cent of those with no prior convictions received a prison sentence, while those with three or more prior convictions were almost guaranteed to receive a prison sentence (97%).

Download: NSW Sentencing snapshot - sexual assault - 2009-2010 ( 514Kb )

Source: NSW Law link

Recorded Crime - Victoria, Australia 2009-2010

Rape

Victoria Police recorded 1,540 rape offences in 2009/2010, a decrease of 1.3% on the 1,561 offencesrecorded in 2008/2009. As a rate per 100,000 population, rape has declined by 3.4%.

Of the 1,540 rape offences recorded in 2009/2010;

• 1,214 (78.8%) were cleared during the same period.
• An additional 249 offences were cleared that had been reported in previous years.
• Offences recorded during 2009/2010 were cleared by the processing of offenders in 858 offences (70.7% of clearances).
• 89 (7.3%) offences resulted in no offence being detected.
• The complaint was withdrawn in 251 (20.7%) offences and 16 (1.3%) were cleared by other means.

Please note, the number of victims differs significantly from the number of offences recorded due to some victims reporting multiple counts of victimisation.

Sexual assault (non-rape)

There were 5,125 sex (non-rape) offences recorded in 2009/2010, an increase of 2.4% on the 5,007 offences recorded in 2008/2009.

Family violence

• Of all assaults reported in 2009/2010, 25.1% were family violence related.
• Of all the offences arising from family violence incidents reported in 2009/2010, just under half were assaults (48.3%).
• During 2009/2010, there were 35,720 incidents where police submitted family incident reports. This is 5.4% higher than the 33,896 reports submitted in 2008/2009.

According to Section 31 of the Family Violence Protection Act 2008, a family violence safety notice (FVSN) is taken to be an application for a family violence intervention order (IVO). Victoria Police keeps separate statistics on IVOs and FVSNs so no double counting occurs, however for an accurate picture of IVOs in an area, the two figures have been combined. Note that family violence safety notices were introduced on 8 December 2008.

• Of all family incidents attended, police sought intervention orders or issued a safety notice in 9,229 instances, which is an increase of 12.6% from the previous financial year.

Download: Victoria Police Crime Stastics - Victoria, Australia 2009-2010 ( 315Kb )

Source: Victoria Police

Sentencing Snapshots June 2010

Incest

This Sentencing Snapshot describes sentencing outcomes for the offence of incest and details the age and gender of people sentenced for this offence in the County Court of Victoria between 200405 and 200809.

Download: Snapshot_99 ( 112Kb )

Source: The Sentencing Advisory Council

Australian Crime: Facts and Figures 2009

There were 18,807 victims of sexual assault in Australia in 2009.

• There were 2,860 male victims.
• There were 15,839 female victims.
• There were 8,002 victims aged 0 - 14 years old
• There were 6,437 victims aged 15 - 24 years old
• There were 4,146 victims aged 25 years old and over.
• The crime rate per 100,000 persons for 2009 for sexual assault was 86.

Source: Australian Institute of Criminology (AIC) Facts & Figures 1994-2009

Sentencing Snapshots June 2009

Rape

This Sentencing Snapshot describes sentencing outcomes for the offence of rape and details the age and gender of people sentenced for this offence in the County and Supreme Courts of Victoria between 200304 and 200708.

Download: Snapshot_83 ( 106Kb )

Indecent Assault

This Sentencing Snapshot describes sentencing outcomes for the offence of indecent assault and details the age and gender of people sentenced for this offence in the County Court of Victoria between 200304 and 200708.

Download: Snapshot_80 ( 122Kb )

Indecent act with a child under 16.

This Sentencing Snapshot describes sentencing outcomes for the offence of indecent act with a child under 16 and details the age and gender of people sentenced for this offence in the County Court of Victoria between 200304 and 200708.

Download: Snapshot_81 ( 118Kb )

Maintaining a sexual relationship with a child under 16.

This Sentencing Snapshot describes sentencing outcomes for the offence of maintaining a sexual relationship with a child under 16 and details the age and gender of people sentenced for this offence in the County Court of Victoria between 200304 and 200708.

Download: Snapshot_82 ( 96Kb )

Sexual penetration of a child aged between 10 and 16.

This Sentencing Snapshot describes sentencing outcomes for the offence of sexual penetration of a child aged between 10 and 16 and details the age and gender of people sentenced for this offence in the County and Supreme Courts of Victoria between 200304 and 200708.

Download: Snapshot_88 ( 126Kb )

Sexual penetration of a child under care, supervision or authority.

This Sentencing Snapshot describes sentencing outcomes for the offence of sexual penetration of a child under care, supervision or authority and details the age and gender of people sentenced for this offence in the County Court of Victoria between 200304 and 200708.

Download: Snapshot_89 ( 104Kb )

Sexual penetration of a child under 10.

This Sentencing Snapshot describes sentencing outcomes for the offence of sexual penetration of a child aged under 10 and details the age and gender of people sentenced for this offence in the County Court of Victoria between 200304 and 200708.

Download: Snapshot_90 ( 117Kb )

Source: The Sentencing Advisory Council

Sentencing Snapshots February/June 2008

Incest

This Sentencing Snapshot describes sentencing outcomes for the offence of incest and details the age and gender ofpeople sentenced for this offence in the County Court of Victoria between 2002-03 and 2006-07.

Download: Snapshot_43 ( 158Kb )

Indecent Assault

This Sentencing Snapshot describes sentencing outcomes for the offence of indecent assault and details the age and gender of people sentenced for this offence in the Magistrates Court of Victoria between 2004-05 and 2006-07.

Download: Snapshot_49 ( 88Kb )

Indecent act with a child under 16.

This Sentencing Snapshot describes sentencing outcomes for the offence of indecent act with a child under 16 and details the age and gender of people sentenced for this offence in the Magistrates Court of Victoria between 2004-05 and 2006-07.

Download: Snapshot_50 ( 82Kb )

Knowingly possess child pornography.

This Sentencing Snapshot describes sentencing outcomes for the offence of knowingly possess child pornography and details the age and gender of people sentenced for this offence in the Magistrates Court of Victoria between 2004-05 and 2006-07.

Download: Snapshot_51 ( 81Kb )

Source: The Sentencing Advisory Council

Child abuse reporting statistics: 1992 to 2007.

Child Protection Victoria reporting statistics from 1992 to 2007. Statistics are principally sourced from CASIS 1993-2005 and CRIS 2006 - onwards.

Download: Child abuse reporting statistics: 1992 to 2007 ( 54Kb )

Source: Victorian Department of Human Services

Sentencing Snapshots June/October 2007

Rape

This Sentencing Snapshot describes sentencing outcomes for the offence of rape and details the age and gender of people sentenced for this offence in the County and Supreme Courts of Victoria between 2001-02 and 2005-06.

Download: Snapshot_26 ( 399Kb )

Indecent Assault

This Sentencing Snapshot describes sentencing outcomes for the offence of indecent assault and details the age andgender of people sentenced for this offence in the County Court of Victoria between 2001-02 and 2005-06.

Download: Snapshot_23 ( 175Kb )

Maintaining a sexual relationship with a child under the age of 16.

This Sentencing Snapshot describes sentencing outcomes for the offence of maintaining a sexual relationship with a child under the age of 16 and details the age and gender of people sentenced for this offence in the County Court of Victoria between 2001-02 and 2005-06.

Download: Snapshot_25 ( 147Kb )

Sexual penetration of a child aged between 10 and 16.

This Sentencing Snapshot describes sentencing outcomes for the offence of sexual penetration of a child aged between 10 and 16 and details the age and gender of people sentenced for this offence in the County and Supreme Courts of Victoria between 2001-02 and 2005-06. This snapshot excludes those people sentenced for the offence of sexual penetration of a child between 10 and 16 who was under the care, supervision or authority of the accused.

Download: Snapshot_31 ( 174Kb )

Sexual penetration of a child aged 10 to 16 under the care, supervision or authority.

This Sentencing Snapshot describes sentencing outcomes for the offence of sexual penetration of a child aged 10 to 16 under the care, supervision or authority of the offender and details the age and gender of people sentenced for this offence in the County and Supreme Courts of Victoria between 2001-02 and 2005-06.

Download: Snapshot_32 ( 113Kb )

Sexual penetration of a child aged under 10.

This Sentencing Snapshot describes sentencing outcomes for the offence of sexual penetration of a child aged under 10 and details the age and gender of people sentenced for this offence in the County and Supreme Courts of Victoria between 2001-02 and 2005-06.

Download: Snapshot_33 ( 174Kb )

Source: The Sentencing Advisory Council

Guilty Outcomes in Reported Sexual Assault and Related Offence Incidents 2006-2007

In 2006 more than 18,000 victim incidents of sexual assault and related offences were recorded by police across Australia (Australian Bureau of Statistics 2007).

Of sexual offence incidents (including rape) which were reported to police:

• Less than 20% resulted in charges being laid and criminal proceedings being instigated (Fitzgerald 2006; Heenan & Murray 2006);
• Of those cases which did get to court, between one quarter and a third of defendants pleaded guilty (Fitzgerald 2006);
• Between a quarter and a third of cases were dismissed without a hearing;
• Of defendants who pleaded not guilty where a decision was reached (about 40% of cases), about 4 in 10 were found guilty (Taylor 2007).

Download: Guilty Outcomes in Reported Sexual Assault and Related Offence Incidents 2006 - 7 ( 125Kb )

Source: Australian Institute of Criminology

ABS Criminal Courts 2005-2006

Five offence types accounted for 73% of defendants adjudicated in the Higher Courts:

• Acts intended to cause injury (23%);
• Illicit drug offences (17%);
• Sexual assault (14%);
• Robbery (10%); and
• Unlawful entry with intent (10%).

Of the 2,809 defendants adjudicated that had a trial outcome in the Higher Courts 44% were acquitted. Three principal offences accounted for the majority of trial outcomes:

• Sexual assault offences (27%);
• Acts intended to cause injury (20%); and
• Illicit drug offences (12%).

Defendants with a principal offence of sexual assault or acts intended to cause injury were more likely to be acquitted at trial (58% and 47% respectively), whilst defendants with a principal offence of illicit drug offences were less likely to be acquitted (22%).

Download: ABS Criminal Courts 2005 - 06 ( 1.8Mb )

Source: Australian Bureau of Statistics

Sentencing Snapshots December 2005

Rape

This Sentencing Snapshot describes sentencing outcomes for the offence of rape, and details of the age and gender of persons sentenced for this offence in the Supreme and County Court of Victoria between 1999/2000 and 2003/04.

Download: Snapshot_07 ( 186Kb )

Source: The Sentencing Advisory Council

Australian Crime: Facts and Figures 2004

• In 2002-2003, 98% of sexual assault offenders were male.
• In 2003 the number of men sentenced for sex offences was 1,904 or 11% of the prison population.
• In 2003 the number of women sentenced for sex offences was 13 or 1% of the prison population.
• Males imprisoned for the violent offences of homicide, assault, sex offences and robbery accounted for almost half of all sentenced male prisoners in 2002 (47%), compared with one-third of sentenced females (36%).
• 11% of the offender population were juveniles, a percentage that has increased from 8% since 1995-1996.
• Between 1984 and 2003, the overall imprisonment rate increased from 86 to 153 per 100,000 adult population.
• The prison population has grown by an average 5% a year since 1984.
• At 30 June 2003, remanded prisoners (those awaiting trial or sentence), accounted for 21% of the total prisoner population, up from 12% in 1984.
• The rate of prisoners remanded in custody tripled between 1984 and 2003, from 10 to 31 per 100,000 population.

Download: Australian Crime: Facts and Figures 2004 ( 344Kb )

Source: Australian Institute of Criminology

Rape Snapshot 2001-2005

• In Victoria 181 people were sentenced for rape over the five year period 2001-2005.
• There were 37 people sentenced for this offence in 2005-06, down by 9 people from the previous year.
• All but one of those sentenced were men (99.4% or 180 of 181 people), including 36 of the 37 people sentenced in 2005-06.
• Around three quarters of the people sentenced for rape received a period of imprisonment (77%). This remained relatively stable each year, ranging from 74% in 2004-05 to 78% in 2002-03, 2003-04 and 2005-06.
• There were also 14 people who were given a wholly suspended period of imprisonment and 11 who received a partially suspended sentence of imprisonment over the five year period.
• The average age of people sentenced for rape was thirty-four years and five months. One male juvenile was sentenced over this period.
• Only one female out of 181 people was sentenced for rape over the 5 year period.
• In Victoria the average length of imprisonment term imposed on men sentenced for rape ranged from four years and six months in 2001-02 and 2002-03 to five years and nine months in 2004-05.
• From 2001-02 to 2005-06, the average length of total effective sentence for all men ranged from six years in 2001-02 to seven years and eight months in 2003-04.
• Over the same period, the average length of non-parole period ranged from four years in 2001-02 to five years and four months in 2003-04.
• There were 25 men given a suspended sentence of imprisonment as their total effective sentence.
• Of these, 14 men had their prison sentence wholly suspended and 11 received a partially suspended sentence of imprisonment.
• Each of the 181 people was sentenced for an average of 5.15 offences, including for 2.23 offences of rape.
• The most common offence finalised in conjunction with rape was indecent assault (33.1% of all cases).

Download: Rape Snapshot 2001 - 2005 ( 540Kb )

Source: The Sentencing Advisory Council

Study of Reported Rapes in Victoria 2000-2003

Of the 812 reports where the case outcome could be established:

• Police laid charges in only 15% of cases, suggesting that fewer than one in six victims will be involved in cases that are likely to proceed to a prosecution stage.
• 46.6% of the cases resulted in no further police action.
• If this figure is combined with the numbers of complaints being withdrawn, a total of 61.5% of cases did not proceed past the report or investigation stage.
• This figure could in fact be as many as 80.8% if it includes 'cases that are still ongoing' given no charges had been laid between the report stage and the commencement of this study.
• In 17 cases (2.1%), the case outcome was clearly categorised as a false report.
• The Victorian law reform commission found that 24.8% of the reported rapes were classified as complaints withdrawn in 2001-2002 and 31.5% in 2002-03.

The primary lines of defence used by alleged offenders was that:

• 30.7% alleged the victim consented to the sexual activity.
• 23.2% denied the allegations.
• 11.7% admitted contact but denied any sexual activity.
• 8.3% made partial admissions to the offences.
• 8% made full admissions.

Download: Study of Reported Rapes in Victoria 2000-2003 ( 450Kb )

Source: The Office of Women

Related reports

Copies of all the sentencing snapshots can be downloaded from The Sentencing Advisory Council.

This is not an exhaustive list of research in the area of family violence and sexual assault, merely a starting point. As the locations of web pages often change, many of these reports have been made available through this page to assist readers. Please note that these pdfs may not contain the latest version or any recent changes so it is recommended that researchers check the author's website for updates, suplements or amendments. All published details correct as at Sept 2011.

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Disclaimer Copyright Updated: 3 Oct 2011