The Hodgman Liberal Government is delivering on our election commitment to phase out suspended sentences and replace them with a wider range of alternative sentencing options.
A draft bill for the second phase of reforms has now been released that will ensure suspended sentences are no longer an option for offenders who commit a number of serious sexual, violent and drug crimes, except where a Court finds that there are exceptional circumstances.
The community sees suspended sentences as a soft and ineffective response to crime, and the Sentencing Advisory Council report confirmed that Tasmania’s use of suspended sentences is higher than in all other Australian jurisdictions.
The Sentencing Advisory Council also found that 34 per cent of offenders breach their suspended sentence by reoffending, but only 55 per cent of those offenders were then returned to court to face the consequences of the breach.
It is clear that changes are needed to restore confidence in our justice system, which is exactly why we went to the 2014 election promising to implement a greater range of alternatives that will ensure sentences reflect the gravity of the crime committed.
The second phase of reforms will also bring in two new sentencing options for Courts: home detention orders and community correction orders.
Home detention orders will allow Courts to sentence suitable offenders to home detention for up to 18 months. Courts will be able to impose conditions on offenders, including electronic monitoring, to ensure that offenders are appropriately supervised.
Community correction orders will replace community service orders and probation orders. They will provide Courts with further specific conditions that can be placed on offenders, including curfews and a requirement that the offender is not to associate with certain people.
These changes will complement the first phase of amendments that commenced in February this year that expanded drug treatment orders to the Supreme Court and allowed Courts to defer sentencing of offenders.
We are committed to keeping Tasmanians safe, and these changes send a strong message that if you do the crime, you do the time. It’s a stark contrast to Labor who want to keep suspended sentences, and who blocked our plan to introduce minimum mandatory sentencing for child sex offenders and assaults on frontline workers.