Defined Terms

Life Sentence (What is a life sentence?)

Below is an extract from Life Sentences in NSW: “Life Meaning Life” within www.sydneycriminallawyers.com.au/

"A life sentence is the heaviest penalty a Court can impose in Australia. In New South Wales, Section 61 of the Crimes (Sentencing Procedure) Act 1999 (“The Act”) stipulates the following in relation to the offence of murder:

“A court is to impose a sentence of imprisonment for life on a person who is convicted of murder if the court is satisfied that the level of culpability in the commission of the offence is so extreme that the community interest in Justice For the Innocent Victim/s, Punishment, Community Protection and Deterrence can only be met through the imposition of that sentence”.

It is important to note that for cases of murder, aggravated sexual assault in company, sexual intercourse with a child under 10 and drug offences carrying a maximum penalty of life imprisonment in NSW, life means life; in other words, the offender is ordered to spend the rest of their natural lives behind bars, unless a non-parole period is set by the court.

This change was brought in as part of the ‘truth in sentencing’ reforms in 1999, before which the average time spent in prison for a life sentence was 13 years, causing public outrage.

Given the severity of a life sentence, Section 61 requires that the nature and circumstances must be so serious that Justice For the Innocent Victim/s, Punishment, Community Protection and Deterrence can only be met through a sentence of life, as opposed to, for example, a lengthy prison term."

From: bcsr [mailto:bcsr@justice.nsw.gov.au]
Sent: Tuesday, June 5, 2018 2:45 PM
To: Philip Johnston <scribepj@bigpond.com>
Subject: RE: V2: Is there a website or State websites or periodic reports that list the name and jail sentence for convicted murderers in Australian prisons?

Hi Phil

I think the prisoner data on the ABS site may come from Corrective Services. On their latest inmate census, here:

http://www.correctiveservices.justice.nsw.gov.au/Documents/045-nsw-inmate-census-2016.pdf

on page vii is this note:

“The aggregate sentence length for ‘life’ … is indeterminate as the sentencing authority does not impose a sentence expiry date for these sentences.”

Also on page iv is a note relating to the type of sentence. If you look at the paragraph starting ‘The category ‘life sentence’ is comprised of..’, you can see the different types of penalty lengths that can be referred to as a ‘life sentence’.

If you look at table 4.2.1 on page 40, it has prison sentences by offence and length. It looks to me like ‘other’ in the ABS table may refer to Forensic Patient Inmates, which you can see listed separately in that table on page 40.

Kind regards, Kylie

Kylie Routledge | Information Officer
NSW Bureau of Crime Statistics & Research
bcsr@justice.nsw.gov.au | Phone (02) 8346 1100  
Level 1, Henry Deane Building, 20 Lee Street, Sydney NSW 2000
 www.bocsar.nsw.gov.au

bocsarLogo_COL_withText_sml_12pct

In the above email, the NSW Bureau of Crime Statistics & Research directed the Writer to the ABS webpage (and also to the specific Excel file - Australia Tables 1 to 13, Then to table 11) that lists the number of prisoners in Australian gaols for various crimes. 

Below is an extract of Row 59 of Table 11 (Excel file) which shows for Homicide and related offences as at 30 June 2019 :

       936 prisoners in Australian prisons serving sentences of 20 years and over

    1,017 prisoners in Australian prisons serving a Life Sentence

       135 prisoners in Australian prisons serving a Other

    2,088 prisoners in Australian prisons serving a sentence of 20 years and over, or a Life Sentence or Other: 

Below are extracts from Australia’s most severe penalty that only a handful of prisoners receive    News.com.au  March 4, 2016:

"Life imprisonment without parole is the most severe punishment under the nation’s criminal law since the abolition of the death penalty in 1973.

The judgment is reserved for the worst of the worst criminals who have committed heinous crimes and remain a serious danger to society.

But news.com.au understands there are less than 15 of the approximate 1019 prisoners currently serving life sentences in Australia who have had the penalty imposed on them.

The ABS and the Australian Institute of Criminology do not keep records relating to the number of prisoners currently serving life without the possibility of parole.

In some states and territories, life imprisonment is mandatory for murder convictions, but the length of time a life sentence constitutes varies across jurisdictions.

It can come with a non-parole period of 10 years imprisonment to the remainder of an offender’s life.

Most often a non-parole period is fixed, with the more severe non-parole periods reaching a minimum 35 years. Those with non-parole periods are eligible to apply for parole when the periods expires — if they live to see the day."

The above article also snapshots the following prisoners that have been sentenced to 'life without parole':

  1. PETER DUPAS — Serial killer, Victoria

  2. MARK VALERA, ‘The butcher of Wollongong’, New South Wales

  3. ROGER DEAN — Nursing home murders, New South Wales

  4. JOHN BUNTING AND ROBERT WAGNER — The ‘bodies in the barrels’ Snowtown murders, South Australia

  5. SEF GONZALES — ‘Family killer’, New South Wales

  6. KATHERINE KNIGHT — Sadistic husband killer and cannibal, New South Wales

  7. MARTIN BRYANT — Port Arthur gunman, Tasmania

  8. ANDREW PETER GARFORTH, New South Wales

  9. CRESPIN ADANGUIDI, New South Wales

  10. IVAN MILAT — Backpacker serial killer, New South Wales

The below Table 4.2.1 from Statistical Publications - NSW Inmate Census 2016 - Summary of Characteristics evidences the below percentages of -

*        inmates in Correctional Centres in NSW:

                'Homicide and related'                                                  8.2%

                'Acts intended to cause harm'                                    19.0%

                'Sexual assault and related'                                        12.4%

                'Illicit drug offences'                                                    13.3%

*        inmates in Correctional Centres in NSW serving '20+ years' sentences:

                'Homicide and related'                                                 70.6%

                'Acts intended to cause harm'                                      1.6%

                'Sexual assault and related'                                       12.4%

                'Illicit drug offences'                                                    10.9%

 

 

The below Table 5.8 from Statistical Publications - NSW Inmate Census 2016 - Summary of Characteristics evidences the number of inmates in NSW jails for murder/s has increased from 423 in 1982 to 926 in 2016 some of that increase likely due to better investigations and Forensic Evidence:

The immediately above Table 5.8 lists 928 inmates in NSW prisons in 2016 convicted of Murder.  

The further above table 5.8.1 seems to list that 70.6% of Inmates that are serving '20+ years' sentences in NSW prisons in 2016 were convicted of Murder/s:

                'Homicide and related'                                                 70.6%

                'Acts intended to cause harm'                                      1.6%

                'Sexual assault and related'                                       12.4%

                'Illicit drug offences'                                                    10.9%

Table 1.3b (below) Characteristics of Offences and Sentences seems to list in NSW prisons in 2016 that:

·         472 Inmates are serving ‘20+ years’ sentences; and

·         92 Inmates are serving a Life Sentence.

 

 

A Daily Telegraph article in 2016 titled “Australia’s worst killers:  10 of our most evil murderers destined to spend life behind bars” included:

                        "There are currently 58 prisoners in NSW jails classified as never to be released due to the horrific nature of their crimes."