Implementation
The recommendations in Same Crime Same Time: Sentencing of Federal Offenders (ALRC 103, 2006) are addressed to a wide range of parties and not merely the Australian Government. For this reason, the report contains an implementation schedule listing the action required of different bodies to implement the recommendations in ALRC 103.
At a Federal Criminal Justice Forum (28-29 September 2008, Canberra) the Minister for Home Affairs, the Hon Bob Debus MP noted that some of the main priorities for action that emerged from the forum included:
- implementation of Same Crime, Same Time. The Minister added that the report is now being actively considered;
- providing more diversionary options for sentencing judges and magistrates (which is considered in Same Crime, Same Time); and
- establishment of a Federal Parole Board (Recommendation 23-1).
Recommendation 18-2 stated that the Australian Parliament should expand the original jurisdiction of the Federal Court of Australia to hear and determine proceedings in relation to nominated federal offences whose subject matter is closely allied to the existing civil jurisdiction of the Federal Court, in areas such as taxation, trade practices and corporations law.
On 3 December 2008, the Australian Government introduced the Federal Court of Australia Amendment (Criminal Jurisidiction) Bill 2008 (Cth). The Bill provides a procedural framework which will allow the Federal Court to exercise the indictable criminal jursidiction which it will be given to deal with serious cartel offences if the Trade Practices Amendment (Cartel Conduct and Other Measures) Bill 2008 (Cth) is enacted. The Austalian Government has indicated that there is no other legislation which gives the Court indictable criminal jurisdiction and no such legislation is currently planned or proposed.