Sentencing sexual and domestic violence

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This content has information about sexual violence offences that readers may find distressing. If this raises any issues for you and you need to talk to someone, help is available.

The Council provides advice to the Queensland Attorney-General on sentencing matters when asked. This includes recommendations for improvements where needed.

In May 2023 we were asked to review certain aspects of sentencing for crimes involving sexual violence and domestic and family violence in Queensland.

Further details about the review are outlined in the Terms of Reference.

In December 2024, we completed the first part of this review, focusing on the sentencing of sexual assault and rape offences.

The second part of our review, examining sentencing reforms for domestic and family violence, and it's recommendations, was provided to the Attorney-General in February 2026.

While the government may consider and adopt some or all our recommendations, the final decisions remain at their discretion.

Key dates

The final report on the sentencing of sexual assault and rape offences was delivered to the Attorney-General on 16 December 2024.

The final report on the sentencing of domestic and family violence offences was delivered to the Attorney-General on 27 February 2026.

Next steps

Domestic and family violence sentencing review

Our report, The Tangled Web: Examining domestic and family violence sentencing reforms, is currently with the Attorney-General for consideration.

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