Sentencing Outcomes from Charges of Theft in Victoria from 2012 to 2017
This article is the third part of our three part series exploring theft charges in Victoria Australia. See the other articles for an overview of theft charges in Victoria Australia and trends in theft charges in Victoria Australia.
This article looks at sentencing outcomes where a person has been charged with the principal offence of theft in Victoria. This article looks at the sentencing outcomes and shows a correlation between the seriousness of the offence and the punishment. This report does not show outcomes where a person has been charged with multiple theft charges at once and where theft is not the principal offence. More serious sentencing outcomes are likely to result, where the principal offence is burglary or aggravated burglary. Sentencing outcomes are affected by the gravity of the particular theft offence or offences. For example, theft of a food item from a supermarket compared to theft of a $100,000 motor vehicle.
The period looked at is from 2012 to 2017. During this period, the Magistrates’ Court sentenced 45,155 people for proven theft charges with approximately 114,170 theft charges made against those people.
Factors Affecting Theft Sentencing Outcomes from 2012 to 2017
According to the Sentencing Council of Victoria, there were two relevant changes in Victoria that affected theft sentencing outcomes between the period 2012 to 2017. The first is the introduction of community correction orders becoming available as a sentencing option for theft from 16 January 2012 onward while community-based orders were removed. The second change occurred from 1 September 2014 where suspended sentences for imprisonment were abolished.
Overall Sentencing Outcomes for Theft from 2012 to 2017 in Victoria
In a vast majority of cases, where theft is the principal charge, it is unlikely that imprisonment will result. In 78.9% of cases no custodial sentence was given. Imprisonment was imposed in 14.8% of cases.
Sentencing Outcomes for Theft Across Major Categories from 2012 to 2017 in Victoria
According to the Sentencing Council of Victoria the following table represents the sentencing outcomes where the principal charge of theft was proven against a person. It is noted, this does not include those matters where theft was not the principal charge.
|
Sentence
|
General Theft
|
Theft of a Motor Vehicle
|
Theft from a Motor Vehicle
|
Theft from a Shop
|
Theft of a Bicycle
|
|
Prison
|
691
|
11.8%
|
698
|
36.4%
|
112
|
19.5%
|
1,467
|
12.6%
|
18
|
15.8%
|
|
Partially suspended sentence
|
43
|
.7%
|
23
|
1.2%
|
3
|
.5%
|
61
|
.5%
|
0
|
0
|
|
Youth justice centre
|
15
|
.3%
|
32
|
1.7%
|
1
|
.2%
|
10
|
.1%
|
0
|
0
|
|
Drug Treatment
|
1
|
|
4
|
.2%
|
0
|
0
|
9
|
.1%
|
0
|
0
|
|
Wholly suspended sentence
|
333
|
5.7%
|
123
|
6.4%
|
31
|
5.4%
|
562
|
4.8%
|
4
|
3.5%
|
|
Community Order
|
945
|
16.2%
|
449
|
23.4%
|
131
|
22.8%
|
1,674
|
14.3%
|
14
|
12.3%
|
|
Fine
|
2,108
|
36.1%
|
332
|
17.3%
|
180
|
31.4%
|
4,179
|
35.8%
|
36
|
31.6%
|
|
Adjourned undertaking
|
1,594
|
27.3%
|
253
|
13.2%
|
107
|
18.6%
|
3,334
|
28.5%
|
39
|
34.2%
|
|
Discharged after conviction
|
36
|
.6%
|
3
|
.2%
|
3
|
.5%
|
162
|
1.4%
|
1
|
.9%
|
|
Proven and dismissed
|
81
|
1.4%
|
3
|
.2%
|
6
|
1.0%
|
229
|
2.0%
|
2
|
1.8%
|
Reference: Theft: Sentencing Outcomes in the Magistrates' Court of Victoria 2017
Clearly, prison is a serious possibility in all cases where theft is the principal charge. Those individual’s facing a charge for theft of a motor vehicle face a greater risk of being sent to prison, followed by those who steal from a motor vehicle. You are more likely to be sent to prison for theft of a bicycle than from a shop or general theft offences. A fine is the most likely outcome of a theft charge, except for theft of a motor vehicle where a community order is most likely. Finally, please note that this table does not consider unreported crimes, crimes not caught by the justice system nor those individuals who have prior offences which can all affect sentencing outcomes.
Proven Theft Charges that resulted in the Criminal Justice Diversion Program from 2012 to 2017
According to the Sentencing Council of Victoria, in addition to the above theft charge sentencing outcomes, 3,568 theft charges resulted in the use of the Criminal Justice Diversion Program. It is noted, this does not include those matters where theft was not the principal charge. The following table represents the use of the Criminal Justice Diversion Program across the major 5 categories of theft.
|
|
Total Sentences
|
Criminal Justice Diversion Used
|
Criminal Justice Diversion Used %
|
|
General Theft
|
7,388
|
1,541
|
20.9%
|
|
Theft of a Motor Vehicle
|
2,046
|
125
|
6.1%
|
|
Theft from a Motor Vehicle
|
654
|
80
|
12.2%
|
|
Theft from a Shop
|
13,466
|
1,779
|
13.2%
|
|
Theft of a Bicycle
|
157
|
43
|
27.4%
|
Reference: Theft: Sentencing Outcomes in the Magistrates' Court of Victoria 2017
With thanks from the Sentencing Council of Victoria’s report: Theft: Sentencing Outcomes in the Magistrates’ Court of Victoria.
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