An Overview of Theft Sentencing in Victoria from 2012 to 2017
This article is the first part of our three part series exploring theft charges. See the other articles for an sentencing outcomes from theft in Victoria Australia and trends in theft charges in Victoria Australia.
The Victorian Sentencing Advisory Council recently undertook an investigation of sentencing outcomes in Victoria Australia, for the crime of theft. The report looks at those cases where the charge of theft was proven. The report looked at proven charges where theft was a primary charge made by the police, the only charge or theft was one charge amongst other charges.
The period looked at in the report was 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. On average, there were 2.5 theft charges made against each person.
What is Theft?
The Crimes Act 1958 (Vic) section 72, defines theft as:
A person steals if he dishonestly appropriates property belonging to another with the intention of permanently depriving the other of it.
A Breakdown of Theft Sentencing Outcomes in Victoria Australia
|
Theft Sentencing Outcome
|
% of theft charges sentenced in this way
|
|
Theft sentencing outcomes not resulting in imprisonment (excludes some outcomes)
|
78.9%
|
|
Theft sentencing resulting in imprisonment
|
14.8%
|
|
Theft sentencing resulting in a fine
|
33.9%
|
|
Theft sentencing resulting in an undertaking
|
26.4%
|
Reference: Theft: Sentencing Outcomes in the Magistrates' Court of Victoria 2017
A Breakdown of Theft Sentencing Outcomes Across Theft Categories
The report looked at five different categories of theft and the resulting numbers of charges laid for each category of theft. Between 2012 to 2017, the number of theft charges laid in each category are:
|
Theft Type
|
Number of theft charges
|
% of theft charges laid in these categories
|
|
General theft (all types of theft not included below)
|
56,710
|
49.67%
|
|
Theft from a shop
|
41,528
|
36.37%
|
|
Theft of a motor vehicle
|
10,714
|
9.39%
|
|
Theft from a motor vehicle
|
4,502
|
3.94%
|
|
Theft of a bicycle
|
716
|
.63%
|
Reference: Theft: Sentencing Outcomes in the Magistrates' Court of Victoria 2017
The report shows that general theft is the most common type of theft charge, followed by theft from a shop, then theft from a motor vehicle, then theft of a motor vehicle and finally theft of a bicycle. As there is an average of 2.5 charges per person, there is likely to be over in some theft charges in addition to multiple theft charges. For example, a person could be charged with theft of a motor vehicle as well as theft from a motor vehicle at the same time or multiple charges where a person steals several items from a shop. Please note, this report does not include unreported theft, theft where there was no charges laid or where the charge of theft could not be proven.