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:
- 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.
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  | Maximum penalty |
|---|---|
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 order | 3 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.