revolving door of prison
women. Of these:
suspended sentences.
imprisonment that year, all but one had prior
convictions.
likelihood of imprisonment when new offences are
committed.
and imprisonment.
the strongest predictor of the sentence
type and length of the imprisonment
term is whether the person has a prior
sentencing episode: people with prior
episodes are more likely to receive a
custodial sentence but be sentenced
to a shorter term of imprisonment.
The impact of prior sentencing is thus
greater on the decision to incarcerate.
Information provided to the Commission by Sentencing
Advisory Council on 1 February 2013. Note that
intensive correction orders are no longer a sentencing
option since the introduction of Community Correction
Orders.
This may be undercount as available data only captures
those sentenced to prison in 2010-11 who had been
previously been sentenced from 1 July 2004. Older
prisoners may have appeared before July 2004 and
had not appeared since will not be counted. Information
provided to the Commission by Sentencing Advisory
Council on 1 February 2013.
State of Victoria, Sentencing Advisory Council,
`Comparing Sentencing Outcomes', above n 49, 59.
State of Victoria, Corrections Victoria, Transition of
Koori women to Tarrengower Prison (2012) 11.
"Not only are Koori offenders more likely to have prior
sentences, but they also have a greater number of prior
sentences, with Koori offenders more likely to have been
sentenced three or more times within the re-offending
database." Koori offenders are also more likely to have
more than one charge before the Magistrates' Court
when sentencing is considered. State of Victoria,
Sentencing Advisory Council, `Comparing Sentencing
Outcomes', above n 49, 38-39, 59.
custodial sentence
likely to receive a custodial sentence in the
Magistrates' Court than non-Koori people.
length of the sentence they receive.
Koori men.
Koori counterparts.
In 2010-11 36.7 per cent of Koori offenders were
sentenced to imprisonment by the Magistrates' Court
of Victoria, compared to 28.5 per cent of non-Koori
offenders. The reference group for the study `observed
differences in imprisonment as likely due to the higher
proportion of Koori people being sentenced for injury
offences as their most serious (principal proven) offence,
which is more likely to attract a period of imprisonment.
This may be different for Koori men and women. Ibid 40.
Corrections Victoria data indicates that as at 28
February 2013 "Indigenous prisoners were serving
shorter sentences with almost 60 per cent serving a
sentence of less than two years compared with 49 per
cent on non-Indigenous prisoners". State of Victoria,
'Indigenous Offenders and Prisoners March 2013',
above n 2. However, when the Sentencing Advisory
Council analysed prisoner data in more detail, allowing
for all circumstances, they found "no meaningful
differences in sentence length between Koori and non-
Koori offenders". Ibid 44.
Ninety-six per cent of Koori males sentenced by the
Magistrates' Court in 2010-11 were given a custodial
sentence, even though both men and women were
equally likely to have prior convictions. Information
provided to the Commission by Sentencing Advisory
Council on 1 February 2013.
Twenty-four per cent compared to 16 per cent for non-
Koori women. Information provided to the Commission
by Sentencing Advisory Council on 1 February 2013.
Sixty-seven per cent compared to 70 per cent for non-
Koori women. Information provided to the Commission
by Sentencing Advisory Council on 1 February 2013.