Types of crime
Sentencing fines and penalties for offences
There is a maximum penalty set for each crime normally with a greater penalty if the offence takes place with aggravation—something which increases the seriousness of the crime or the harm to the victim—such as when the crime is committed by more than 1 person or a weapon is carried.
When deciding a sentence, the magistrate or judge considers a number of factors such as:
- the seriousness of the crime
- the effect on the victim
- the offender’s circumstances
- the offender’s criminal history
- whether the offender has cooperated with police.
Penalty units and fines
Fines for some crimes in Queensland are based on a system of penalty units. A penalty unit (PU) is a set amount of money used to work out each fine. The fine is calculated by multiplying the value of 1 penalty unit by the number of penalty units set for that crime. The number of penalty units will normally have an equivalent jail sentence for people unable or unwilling to pay the fine or where the judge or magistrate decides jail is a better punishment.
An amendment to the Penalties and Sentences Act 1992 on 21 August 2012 increased the PU value in Queensland to $110.
For example the penalty for driving without due care and attention—a hooning offence—is a maximum of 40 penalty units or 6 months imprisonment; therefore the maximum fine for the offence is now $4400.
Hooning
Hooning is the slang word we use for any anti-social behaviour conducted in a motor vehicle such as speeding, street racing, burnouts and playing loud music from a car stereo. Hooning therefore includes a number of traffic offences a person can be charged with, including dangerous driving, driving without due care and attention, driving without reasonable consideration for other people, driving in a way that makes unnecessary noise or smoke, and racing or conducting speed trials on a public road.
Penalties for hooning
Penalties vary for different hooning offences. For example, driving in a way that makes unnecessary noise or smoke caries a maximum fine of 20 penalty units ($2200) while the most serious offences, such as driving without due care and attention or street racing, carry a maximum fine of 40 penalty units ($4400) or 6 months in jail.
Confiscation of vehicles
In addition to the penalties for the traffic offence, a 2002 amendment to the Police Powers and Responsibilities Act gave Queensland police the power to impound vehicles involved in hooning offences. These ’anti-hooning laws’ as they are often known, have been repeatedly strengthened.
You can now lose your vehicle for 2 days for hooning offences and your vehicle can be taken off you permanently for your third offence. Confiscated vehicles are auctioned off by the government or crushed and sold as scrap metal.
Tough new anti-hooning laws put to the Queensland parliament in November 2012 will enable the police to impound cars for 3 months after the first serious hooning offence, and a second offence within 5 years could result in a vehicle being crushed or forfeited.
Report hooning—the Hoon Hotline
To counter hooning, the police set up a dedicated Hoon Hotline in December 2010.
You can now report hoons by calling the Hoon Hotline on 13HOON (13 4666). If possible you should tell the operator:
- what the vehicle is and looks like
- what hooning activity it was doing
- the registration plates
- the time and where the vehicle was.
This will help the police identify and stop the hoon. If you have an email address you can also report a hoon online.
Graffiti
Graffiti is a form of vandalism. Most people think of graffiti as an eyesore and its presence heightens people’s fears that other crime is common in the area.
As a crime, graffiti is the damage to property caused by:
- spraying, writing, drawing, marking or applying paint or another marking substance to a persons property without their consent
or
- scratching or etching a person’s property without their consent—the word graffiti is actually derived from the Italian word for scratched.
If you deface property with graffiti you can be charged with willful damage which is punishable with 5 years in jail. It is also an offence to possess an aerosol spray, marker or other instrument which is being used for graffiti, or that is suspected of having been used, or may be about to be used for graffiti. This carries a maximum penalty of 20 penalty units ($2200) or 1 year in jail
In response to growing public concern about graffiti, in 2008 the state government introduced specific legislation giving government and local councils in Queensland the power to rapidly remove graffiti from anywhere—including private property—where it is visible to the public. The exception is graffiti on privately owned property done with the owner’s consent.
Report graffiti vandals—Tag them back
Tag them back is a joint initiative between Crime Stoppers, Queensland Rail and the Brisbane Council to stop graffiti vandals. You can report graffiti vandals by calling the hotline on 1800 333 000 or you can give information anonymously online.
Find out more about tag them back.
Shoplifting, stealing and burglary
If the value of goods stolen is less than $150, shoplifting falls under the Regulatory Offences Act 1985. The criminal offences covered by this act include:
- shoplifting—taking goods from a store without paying
- eating or drinking something in a shop without paying
- swapping, removing or altering price tags to get a lower price for an item
- leaving a restaurant or hotel without paying.
Each carries a fine of 6 penalty units ($660).
If the value of the goods stolen from a store is more than $150, you can be charged with the more serious offence of stealing (or fraud if you leave a hotel or restaurant without paying a bill greater than $150) which carries a maximum penalty of 5 years in jail.
Stealing and burglary
The maximum penalty for stealing is 5 years imprisonment although if the theft includes aggravation—carrying a weapon or physically harming someone—the penalty may be up to 14 years in jail.
Burglary—illegally entering someone’s house with the intent to steal—has a maximum penalty of 14 years in jail; however, when the burglary takes place at night, the break-in is made with an accomplice or there is an element of aggravation in the crime—the burglar is armed or even pretends to be armed—the maximum penalty is life imprisonment.
Stalking
Queensland was the first state in Australia to introduce anti-stalking legislation in 1993.
Stalking is paying someone unwanted attention that frightens them, causes them mental harm, makes them believe they or their property is in danger, or prevents them from going freely about their daily life.
You may be stalking if you:
- follow a person
- loiter—hang around—near where a person works, lives or a place they regularly go such as a gym or local shops
- repeatedly contact a person by post, phone, email, SMS or using social media such as Twitter or Facebook
- send unwanted gifts to their home or work
- give someone offensive material or messages, or leave it where it will be found by the person, for example on their doorstep or car windscreen
- intimidate or harass them
- threaten or commit acts of violence against them.
The incident doesn’t have to take place multiple times or over a period of time, it can be classed as stalking even if the incident only happens once.
The maximum penalty for stalking is 5 years in jail; however if the stalking includes aggravation—such as threats of violence or carrying a weapon—the maximum penalty rises to 7 years.
If you are being stalked
If you believe you are being stalked report it at your local police station.
It is useful to have some evidence to back up you claim, so keep a record of the stalker’s details and actions. You should record:
- their vehicle details including the registration number, colour, make and condition
- streets and places where you see the stalker loitering, following or watching you
- phone numbers used by the stalker
- a description of the incidents—what happened—including dates and times.
You should also save any text messages sent by the stalker to your mobile phone and any messages or letters they send or leave for you.
More about stalking from the Queensland Police.
Drug offences
There are a large number of offenses you can be charged with in connection with illegal drugs.
The penalties vary according to the type and amount of drugs involved; however, drug offences are taken very seriously and carry severe penalties.
Schedule 1 drugs (e.g. amphetamines, cocaine, heroin, LSD and ecstasy) carry greater penalties than schedule 2 drugs (e.g. cannabis, morphine and barbiturates). For example, supplying heroin carries a maximum penalty of 25 years in jail; where as supplying cannabis has a maximum prison term of 20 years.
The amount of drugs involved in the offence is a significant factor. For example, being found with a small amount of cannabis for personal use is regarded far more leniently than possession of multiple bags intended for sale.
Possession of illegal drugs
Possession is not the same as owning the drug. You can be in possession of a drug even if you didn’t buy it or haven't used it. For example, if you know there are drugs in your share house, you can be charged with possession even if they belong to someone else.
Suppling illegal drugs
Supply is a wide legal term and can include:
- giving, distributing, selling, administering or transporting drugs
- offering to give, distribute, sell, administer, transport or supply drugs
- preparing to give, distribute, sell, administer, transport or supply drugs.
Just giving one of your pills to a friend is an offence and you can be charged with supply.
As well as the type and quantity of drugs involved, other factors are considered when evaluating the seriousness of a supply offence, such as if you were involved with supplying drugs to a child or near a school.
Trafficking illegal drugs
Trafficking is the supply of drugs as part of an illegal commercial operation. This usually involves larger amounts of drugs, several acts of supply, or evidence of an organised business supplying drugs.
Cultivate or produce illegal drugs.
This covers the growing, preparing, manufacturing, packaging and production of drugs. It doesn’t just mean operating a meth lab or a hydroponic cannabis cultivation system, it includes simply growing a cannabis plant for your own use in your back yard.
Publish or possess a recipe for the production of a dangerous drug
If you publish instructions on or own a document containing instructions on how to produce a dangerous drug, you are committing a crime. Just downloading a recipe for crystal meth from the internet could result in 25 years in jail.
Possession of things (drug paraphernalia)
This includes things used to take drugs (e.g. a bong, cocaine spoon, pipe or syringes) or things used to produce drugs (e.g. scales, hydroponic cultivation equipment or a pill press) if they have been used for a drug offence or are intended to be used for a drug offence. So you can be charged with possession of a bong, without actually being charged with possession of marijuana.
Permitting a place to be used for a drug offence
If you own or manage a property and allow it to be used for a drug offence you are committing a crime carrying a maximum penalty of 15 years in jail. It doesn’t mater whether or not you are directly benefiting financially from allowing the property to be used for the offence. You are therefore committing an offence if you allow a tenant to grow marijuana plants in the back yard.
Drug driving
Drugs have been identified as a contributing factor in a significant number of fatal road accidents in Queensland. From December 2007 the police have been able to undertake random roadside saliva testing for illegal drugs including cannabis, speed, crystal meth and ecstasy.
If any trace of illegal drugs are found in your system while you are in charge of a vehicle—you don’t even have to be the driver—the court can impose a fine of up to $1,400 and you could lose your licence for up to 9 months for a first offence.
Find out more about drug driving and roadside drug testing.
Police drug diversion program.
The drug diversion program offers people arrested for a minor drugs offence—for example the possession of a small amount of cannabis—with an opportunity to receive professional help to quit using drugs, rather than going through the normal court process and getting a criminal record.
Find out more about the police drug diversion program.
Further information
Assault
There are different types of assault which have different penalties depending on the seriousness of the assault and the injuries to the victim. The more serious the assault, the more severe the penalty.
All forms of assault involve causing physical or mental harm to another person. This may include striking, touching, moving, or applying force of any kind to a person without their consent; however, you don’t have to hit someone to be charged with assault, pushing them or just threatening them can still be classed as assault.
Common assault
Common assault is the most frequent assault charge heard in Queensland courts. It normally involves a person being threatened or receiving minor injuries as a result of a dispute. For example, you could be charged with common assault if you get into a late night scuffle at a hotel even if no one is seriously harmed.
The maximum penalty for common assault is 7 years in prison.
Assault causing bodily harm
This more serious form of assault is when the person attacked suffers injuries which interfere with their health or comfort (i.e. they need hospital treatment or time off work as a result of the attack).
The maximum sentence for assault occasioning bodily harm is 7 years in jail; however, if there is aggravation involved in the assault—for example the offender has a weapon, pretends to have a weapon or the assault is made by more than one person—the maximum sentence increases to 10 years.
Unlawful wounding and grievous bodily harm
Wounding is breaking or penetrating the skin, which usually results in bleeding. Similar to bodily harm this carries a sentence of up to 7 years in jail.
Grievous bodily harm is a very serious form of assault where the person attacked receives:
- a loss of a distinct part of an organ
- serious disfigurement
- any injury that if left untreated would endanger the person’s life or causes a permanent injury or ill-health.
If you commit grievous bodily harm you can be sentenced to up to 14 years in jail.
Rape and sexual assault
Sexual assault is when a person:
- touches you inappropriately without your consent—groping is a form of sexual assault
- forces you against your will to commit an act of gross indecency—a sexual act that does not involve penetration e.g. a person forces you to touch their genitals
- forces you to see an act of gross indecency—e.g. the person masturbates in front of you.
The maximum penalty for sexual assault is 10 years imprisonment unless there is aggravation—a weapon is used or more than one person is involved in the assault—in which case the maximum penalty is 14 years in prison.
Rape
Rape is the most serious form of sexual assault forcing someone to have sexual intercourse without their consent. However, forcing someone to perform oral sex also constitutes rape as does digital penetration and inserting any object into the vulva, vagina or anus of another person without their consent.
Rape is a very serious offence and carries a maximum sentence of life imprisonment.
For sexual intercourse not to be rape consent must be freely and voluntarily given by a person with the cognitive capacity to do so. Therefore if a person has sexual intercourse while the other person is asleep, unconscious or their cognitive capacity is impaired by drugs or alcohol, it still constitutes rape.
Sexual intercourse with anyone under the age of 12 is rape as a child is not capable of giving consent. Someone who has sexual intercourse with a child may also be charged with other serious sexual offences such as indecent treatment of a child, unlawful carnal knowledge and maintaining a sexual relationship with a child.
- More about sexual assault and rape—Queensland Health
- More about sexual assault and rape— Queensland Police
- Sexual assault and abuse: getting help.
Murder, attempted murder and manslaughter
Murder is the wilful killing of a person either intentionally or with reckless indifference to life. However, it doesn’t include driving causing accidental death—the unlawful killing of a person as a result of dangerous or negligent driving without intent to kill.
Murder in Queensland is not a common crime and statistics show it is not increasing. In 2011 1.2 people were murdered per 100,000 of the Queensland population, that’s comparable with the UK and a fraction of the US rate which for the same period stood at 4.8 per 100,000 people.
Attempted murder is the attempt to unlawfully kill another person by any means, act or omission.
Manslaughter is the unlawful killing of a person without intent to kill, usually as a result of a careless, reckless, or negligent act. Manslaughter also includes the intentional killing of a person under extreme provocation or when a person’s state of mind impairs their capacity to understand or to control their actions—this is sometimes called diminished responsibility.
Any person who commits murder, attempted murder or manslaughter can be sentenced to life imprisonment, although this can be reduced by the court. If a person has a previous murder conviction or has been found guilty of multiple murders the minimum sentence is 30 years in prison. If the person has knowingly murdered a police officer the minimum sentence is 25 years in jail.
