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:

• drug offences in the Drugs Misuse Act 1986 (Qld).
• weapon offences in the Weapons Act 1990 (Qld)
• traffic offences in the Transport Operations (Road Use Management) Act 1995 (Qld)

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.

The maximum penalties we list above include the most serious circumstance of aggravation for each offence, where applicable. You can learn more about these offences, and how different penalties may apply, through relevant legislation, including the Criminal Code.

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.