53ANon-parole periods for offence of murder

53A Non-parole periods for offence of murder (1) Subject to this section, where a court (the sentencing court) sentences an offender to be imprisoned for life for the offence of murder, the court must fix under section 53(1): (a) a standard non-parole period of 20 years; or (b) if any of the circumstances in subsection (3) apply – a non-parole period of 25 years. (2) The standard non-parole period of 20 years referred to in subsection (1)(a) represents the non-parole period for an offence in the middle of the range of objective seriousness for offences to which the standard non-parole period applies. (3) The circumstances referred to in subsection (1)(b) are any of the (a) the victim's occupation was police officer, emergency services worker, correctional services officer (as defined in section 16 of the Correctional Services Act 2014), judicial officer, health professional, teacher, community worker or other occupation involving the performance of a public function or the provision of a community service and the act or omission that caused the victim's death occurred while the victim was carrying out the duties of his or her occupation or for a reason otherwise

Sentencing Act 1995 40 connected with his or her occupation; (b) the act or omission that caused the victim's death was part of a course of conduct by the offender that included conduct, either before or after the victim's death, that would have constituted a sexual offence against the victim; (c) the victim was under 18 years of age at the time of the act or omission that caused the victim's death; (d) if the offender is being sentenced for 2 or more convictions for unlawful homicide; (e) if the offender is being sentenced for one conviction for murder and one or more other unlawful homicides are being taken into account; (f) at the time the offender was convicted of the offence, the offender had one or more previous convictions for unlawful homicide; (g) the victim was, at the time of the act or omission that caused the victim's death, or had previously been: (i) in an intimate personal relationship (as defined in section 11 of the Domestic and Family Violence Act 2007) with the offender; or (ii) the spouse or de facto partner of the offender. (4) The sentencing court may fix a non-parole period that is longer than a non-parole period referred to in subsection (1)(a) or (b) if satisfied that, because of any objective or subjective factors affecting the relative seriousness of the offence, a longer non-parole period is warranted. (5) The sentencing court may refuse to fix a non-parole period if satisfied the level of culpability in the commission of the offence is so extreme the community interest in retribution, punishment, protection and deterrence can only be met if the offender is imprisoned for the term of his or her natural life without the possibility of release on parole. (6) The sentencing court may fix a non-parole period that is shorter than the standard non-parole period of 20 years referred to in subsection (1)(a) or the non-parole period of 25 years required by the circumstances specified in subsection (3)(g) if satisfied there are exceptional circumstances that justify fixing a shorter non- parole period.