Sentencing Review 2017–2018

Australia's prison population is at unprecedented levels, with nearly 43,000 people in full-time custody in June 2018. [1] The imprisonment rate, at 222.5 per 100,000 population, has increased by 13% since 2015 alone. [2] By way of comparison, in the period from 1975 to 1985, our imprisonment rate stood at about 65 per 100,000. [3] Against this backdrop, this review provides a comprehensive summary of the report tabled by the Australian Law Reform Commission (ALRC or Commission) in the Federal Parliament in March 2018, Pathways to Justice – Inquiry into the Incarceration Rate of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples (Pathways to Justice or the report). [4] This is followed by an examination of various forms of intermediate community sanctions, such as the community correction order (CCO) in Victoria and intensive correction order (ICO) in New South Wales (NSW), including the legislative framework for such orders and research on their effects and effectiveness.