Maximum penalties

A maximum penalty is the most severe sentence that a court can give for an offence. It is for the worst category of cases for that type of offence.

Maximum penalties are important because they set out the most severe consequence for an offence and show the legal limit of the court’s sentencing power.

They also reflect how serious the community views different types of offences to be.

Queensland’s maximum penalties for offences are set out in written laws, called Acts. Parliament can update these laws and create new offences to make sure they reflect the community’s values and the type of behaviour we think should be against the law.

The Criminal Code (Qld) lists the maximum penalties for Queensland’s most serious criminal offences.

You can also find maximum penalties for:

There are many other Acts that establish offences and what maximum penalties apply.

Sometimes, a maximum penalty is also affected by the court a case is heard in. For example, in the Magistrates Court, a magistrate can usually only give a prison sentence of up to 3 years. But if the magistrate thinks the right sentence may be one that is longer than 3 years for an offence with a higher maximum penalty, they must send the case to a higher court.

Many people think that a person given a life sentence will spend the rest of their life in prison. This isn’t usually the case. A person who gets a life sentence in Queensland must spend a set minimum amount of time in prison before they can be released on parole. If they apply to the Parole Board Queensland and parole is granted, they will be on parole for the rest of their life.

Being able to apply for parole does not mean a person will get it. The Parole Board will always consider the safety of the community when deciding if someone should be given parole.

The law says how long someone with a life sentence must spend in prison before they can be released on parole. A judge can’t reduce this amount of time, but they can increase it:

  • 30 years in prison for murder of more than one person or by a person with a previous murder conviction
  • 25 years in prison for murder of a police officer
  • 20 years in prison for murder other than listed above, or for a repeat serious child sex offence
  • 15 years in prison for any other life sentence imposed for another offence, for example rape.

If a person is released on parole, they must follow strict conditions, otherwise their parole could be cancelled and they could go back to prison.

Some current maximum penalties in Queensland include:

Offences down-arrow Maximum penalty down-arrow

Acts intended to cause grievous bodily harm etc

Life imprisonment

Armed robbery

Life imprisonment

Arson

Life imprisonment

Assaults occasioning bodily harm

57 years imprisonment

Assaults occasioning bodily harm while armed or in company

610 years imprisonment

Attempted armed robbery

714 years imprisonment

Attempted murder

Life imprisonment

Choking, suffocation or strangulation in a domestic setting

5 7 years imprisonment

Common assault

3 years imprisonment

Contravention of domestic violence order3 years imprisonment
Contravention of domestic violence order (previous conviction of a domestic violence offence within 5 years)5 years imprisonment

Cruelty to children under 16

5 7 years imprisonment

Dangerous operation of a vehicle

3 years imprisonment

Dangerous operation of a vehicle (while adversely affected by drugs or alcohol or excessively speeding etc)

4 5 years imprisonment

Dangerous operation of a vehicle (causing death or grievous bodily harm)

6 10 years imprisonment

Dangerous operation of a vehicle (causing death or grievous bodily harm while adversely affected by drugs or alcohol or excessively speeding etc)

7 14 years imprisonment

Deprivation of liberty

3 years imprisonment

Distributing intimate images

3 years imprisonment

Forgery

3 years imprisonment

Fraud

4 5 years imprisonment

Fraud (value of $100,000 or more etc)

820 years imprisonment

Grievous bodily harm

7 14 years imprisonment

Grooming children under 16

5 years imprisonment

Incest

Life imprisonment

Indecent treatment of children under 16 (aged 12 or older)

7 14 years imprisonment

Indecent treatment of children under 16 years where child under 12 or in person’s care

820 years imprisonment

Involving a child in making child exploitation material (using hidden network or an anonymising service)

925 years imprisonment

Making child exploitation material (using hidden network of an anonymising service)25 years imprisonment

Manslaughter

Life imprisonment

Murder

Life imprisonment

Possessing child exploitation material

7 14 years imprisonment

Possessing child exploitation material (using a hidden network or an anonymising service)

8 20 years imprisonment

Procuring sexual acts by coercion etc

714 years imprisonment

Rape

Life imprisonment

Robbery

714 years imprisonment

Sabotage

925 years imprisonment

Serious animal cruelty

5 7 years imprisonment

Sexual assaults

6 10 years imprisonment

Stealing

4 5 years imprisonment

Stealing (property value more than $5,000)

6 10 years imprisonment

Stealing a vehicle

714 years imprisonment

Torture

7 14 years imprisonment

Trafficking in dangerous drugs

25 years imprisonment

Unlawful drink spiking

4 5 years imprisonment

Unlawful stalking

5 years imprisonment

Unlawful striking causing death

Life imprisonment

Unlawful use or possession of motor vehicles

5 7 years imprisonment

Wilful damage

4 5 years imprisonment

Wilful damage (by graffiti, of part of a school, grave, war memorial, place of worship etc)

5 7 years imprisonment

Wounding

5 7 years imprisonment

Many offences have several different maximum penalties. This depends on if there are extra things that make an offence more serious.

For example, a person committing an assault occasioning bodily harm could be given up to the maximum penalty of 7 years in prison.

However, if that person also used a dangerous weapon when committing the assault or commits it with another person or other people, they could be given a sentence of up to 10 years. The use of a weapon and involvement of other people makes the offence more serious.

In the law, you may see this described as a ‘circumstance of aggravation’.

Sentencing children

The information on this webpage relates to sentencing adults, there are differences in the law for sentencing children. Learn more about sentencing children.

This information is not intended to provide legal advice and has been prepared for the purposes of providing information only. While all reasonable care has been taken in the preparation of this information, no liability is assumed for any errors or omissions.