Queensland Sentencing Advisory Council
The Queensland Sentencing Advisory Council provides independent research and advice, seeks public views and promotes community understanding of sentencing matters.
Final Report Released: Sentencing for Child Homicide
The Queensland Sentencing Advisory Council has released its Sentencing for criminal offences arising from the death of a child - Final Report, as requested by the Attorney-General and Minister for Justice, Yvette D’Ath under Terms of Reference issued to the Council in October 2017.
The Final Report makes eight recommendations to better reflect the vulnerability and defencelessness of victims of child homicide in sentencing and to improve system responses for family members of child victims.
Advisory Panel Launched
The Queensland Sentencing Advisory Council has launched its Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Advisory Panel.
The eight-member panel will provide independent, expert advice to QSAC as it works to understand and address the over-representation of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people in Queensland’s criminal justice system.
The Advisory Panel is designed to give a stronger voice to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities, a better sense of how Queensland communities are affected by current sentencing, and insight into what changes might be made to improve outcomes.
The Panel was launched by the Attorney-General and will meet bi-monthly.
Read our media release
Meet the Panel
Podcast: Community correction orders — are they a smarter sentence?
Listen to the latest edition of our podcast Sentencing Matters, where we talk to Professor Lorana Bartels from the University of Canberra about the use of community correction orders.
Prof Bartels undertakes research in criminal law and criminology, with a particular focus on sentencing and corrections.
The podcast looks at how community correction orders are not being widely utilised by judicial officers — and asks how uptake could be improved.
Prof Bartels takes us through how appropriate use of these orders can lead to better outcomes for offenders and the community as a whole, while also alleviating rising prison populations and costs.
Why are young people sentenced differently to adults?
The Queensland Sentencing Advisory Council has expanded its flagship education platform Judge for Yourself with a new interactive case study exploring the complexities of the Childrens Court.
Judge for Yourself allows users to play the role of a judge or magistrate and learn about the challenges of sentencing offenders in our courts.
The new Childrens Court case study is based on a real-life teenager who has pleaded guilty to assault occasioning bodily harm.
Neuro-science tells us that young brains do not finish developing until young people are well past their teens. What then is the best option for our teenager, balancing the need to keep communities safe?
Hear the court case. Decide the sentence. Judge for Yourself.