Sexual assault

Sentencing Spotlight on sexual assault

Download the spotlight (PDF, 1.6 MB)

This report is part of the Sentencing Spotlight series. These publications present statistics on sentencing outcomes for offences finalised in Queensland courts.

Our Sentencing Spotlight on sexual assault, defined under section 352 of the Criminal Code, provides insight into cases sentenced between July 2005 and June 2023.

Our research found:

• 2,634 offenders were sentenced for sexual assault
• 2,072 cases where this was the most serious offence (MSO)
• 4.8% of cases had a circumstance of aggravation
• 64.6% of adult offenders received a custodial penalty
• the average prison sentence was 1.3 years
• 98.6% of offenders sentenced for sexual assault were male
• the average age of offenders was 36.0 years
• 168 children were sentenced in Queensland courts for sexual assault
• 7.0% of offences were domestic violence offence

Read the media release