Question on Notice regarding sentencing data for various offences across specific financial years was not answered due to data inaccessibility, lack of legislative differentiation for certain offences, and non-existent sentencing options.

AnsweredQoN 5860Legislative Assembly
Asked
10 December 2019
Portfolio
Attorney General; Minister for Commerce

QuestionView source ↗

For each financial year of 1998-99, 2003-04, 2008-09, 2013-14, 2017-18, and 2018-19, according to: (a) The offences of: (i) Sexual assault; (ii) Non-assaultive sexual offences; (iii) Serious assault (family); (iv) Common assault (family); (v) Serious assault (non-family); (vi) Common assault (non-family); (vii) Threatening behaviour (family); (viii) Possess weapon to cause fear (family); (ix) Threatening behaviour (non-family); (x) Possess weapon to cause fear (non-family); (xi) Robbery (non-business); (xii) Burglary (dwelling); and (xiii) Stealing from dwelling; and (b) What percentage of offenders were sentenced to: (i) Custody in a correctional institution; (ii) Custody in the community; (iii) A suspended sentence; (iv) A community supervision/work order; (v) A monetary fine; and (vi) Other?

AnswerView source ↗

Answered
12 February 2020
Response time
2 days
(a-b) Records relating to the 1998-99 financial year are inaccessible as electronic statewide court data is not available, requiring the manual searching of paper-based records in the state archives. I consider this would require the diversion of an unreasonable amount of resources by the Department of Justice. Further, there are no legislative provisions that differentiate between family and non-family assault offences, threatening behaviour offences or possess weapon to cause fear offences. Additionally, there is no legislative provision to differentiate between robbery (business) and robbery (non-business), nor for ‘non assaultive sexual offences’. Further, Western Australia does not have a sentence of ‘Custody in the community’. On the basis of the above, an answer is not able to be provided.

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