What it does
The Sentencing Act 1991 (Vic) is the principal statute governing the imposition, structure, and enforcement of criminal sanctions in Victoria. Its core function, stated in s 1, is to promote consistency of approach in sentencing, to gather all general sentencing powers into one Act, to provide fair procedures for imposing sentences and dealing with breaches, and to prevent crime by balancing punishment, deterrence, rehabilitation, denunciation, and community protection (s 5(1)).
Section 5(1) enumerates the only permissible purposes of sentencing: just punishment, deterrence (specific and general), rehabilitation, denunciation, protection of the community, or a combination. Subsection (2) mandates regard to the maximum penalty, current sentencing practices, the nature and gravity of the offence, the offender’s culpability, any victim impact, guilty plea, previous character, and aggravating or mitigating factors. The standard sentence scheme (ss 5A–5B, inserted 2017) requires courts to treat the legislated “standard sentence” as one relevant factor when sentencing for nominated offences, while still applying instinctive synthesis.
The Act classifies sentences in Part 3. Division 2 authorises custodial sentences (imprisonment, indefinite sentences under subdiv 1A, drug and alcohol treatment orders under subdiv 1C, youth justice or residential centre orders under subdiv 4). Part 3A creates community correction orders (CCOs) with core conditions (s 45) and optional conditions (ss 48C–48K) including unpaid community work, treatment and rehabilitation, supervision, curfew, residence restriction, alcohol exclusion, judicial monitoring, and electronic monitoring (s 48LA). Part 3B regulates fines, instalment orders, fine conversion orders, and enforcement against natural persons and bodies corporate. Part 3BA provides for dismissal, discharge, or adjournment without conviction (ss 70–78) or with conviction (ss 72–74), and for intellectually disabled offenders (ss 80–82AA). Part 3C creates offences for contravening orders (ss 83AC–83AF) and sets out enforcement procedures. Part 3D authorises superannuation orders. Part 4 adds restitution (s 84), compensation for pain and suffering (ss 85A–85M), compensation for property loss (ss 86–87), recovery of victims-of-crime assistance (ss 87A–87B), and recovery of emergency service costs (ss 87C–87N). Part 4A permits identity crime certificates (ss 89E–89H). Part 5 deals with mentally ill offenders via Court Assessment Orders (ss 90–94) and Court Secure Treatment Orders (ss 94A–94C). Part 8 allows expungement of historical homosexual convictions. Part 9 preserves the royal prerogative of mercy.