Queensland Sentencing Advisory Council report
Prison sentences for perpetrators of domestic violence have remained the same despite a raft of reforms following a landmark inquiry into how the justice system deals with crimes against women.
But Queensland magistrates and magistrates are taking sentences more seriously, with an increase in the number of custodial sentences handed out to those convicted of domestic violence offences.
The findings emerged in a study Queensland Sentencing Advisory Council The report was made public Monday after being delivered to Attorney General Deb Frecklington late last month.
QSAC council chairman and former judge Kerry O’Brien AM said Queensland was already doing significant work to stop domestic violence in the community.
O’Brien, the District Court’s longest-serving judge, said the research found sentencing practices had moved towards treating domestic violence offenses more seriously than other offences.
“We are seeing increased use of custody and supervised orders, including imprisonment, for breaching a domestic violence order,” he wrote.
“However, the length of prison sentences did not change.”
The report found that the scope of reforms and systemic changes meant it was not possible to identify what was driving punitive trends.
The report covers over a year of research into the former Labor government’s reforms to the maximum penalty for DVO breaches and the introduction of domestic violence as an aggravating factor for sentencing purposes.
The research found that in a period when punishment was taken more seriously, two non-DV crimes (acts intended to cause grievous bodily harm, theft and committing a criminal offence) did not follow this trend.
“Our research suggests that this is due to significant case differences between crimes that are punished as DV crimes and crimes that are not,” the report said.
The number of convicted DVO breaches increased by 258 per cent from 2013-14 to 2024-24, the report said.
In 2024-25, two-thirds of infringement offenses became aggravated and charges increased.
The research also found that crimes committed in other jurisdictions or states were not consistently recorded as domestic violence crimes, which could impact sentencing practices.
The increase in the severity of criminal consequences for DV offense and order violations is linked to the introduction of two reforms.
However, because the reforms occurred during a period of significant change, the council could not definitively determine whether the problem was caused by the reforms.
The report also noted that the types of conditions violated or violation behavior in DVOs could not be determined from administrative data.
The Council made 12 findings and seven observations related to sentencing reforms, including improved data collection to support a better understanding of the actual amount of time spent in custody and the development of standardized linked datasets for better research efforts.
In the report, O’Brien said the council’s work confirmed the need to improve systems and evidence bases across the system.
“We can’t evaluate things that can’t be seen and change government. It’s urgent to improve data systems in Queensland,” he said.
“More comprehensive data must be collected and linked at the charge level to ensure an accurate understanding of the impacts of criminal justice reforms.”
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Cloe Read is the Brisbane Times’ crime and courts reporter.Connect with: X or email.
