Sentencing of Federal Offenders (Interim report) ALRC 15; The Commonwealth Prisoners Act (Interim report) (ALRC 43); and Sentencing (ALRC 44)
In August 1978, the Attorney-General asked the Australian Law Reform Commission to inquire into the 'laws of the Commonwealth and the Australian Capital Territory relating to the imposition of punishment for offences and any related activity'.
In 1979, a series of Research Papers was published as well as a Discussion Paper Sentencing: Reform Options (DP 10).
In 1980, the Commission published a second Discussion Paper Sentencing of Federal Offenders (DP 15) and its interim report Sentencing of Federal Offenders (ALRC 15) was tabled in May 1980.
Following publication of this first interim report, work on the reference was suspended until 1984.
In 1987, three Discussion Papers were published: Sentencing: Procedure (DP 29); Sentencing: Penalties (DP 30) and Sentencing: Prisons (DP 31).
A second interim report, The Commonwealth Prisoners Act (ALRC 43), was tabled in federal parliament on March 1988. This report was written to provide urgent advice to government and focuses on only one aspect of the punishment process - early release from prison.
The final report in this reference, Sentencing (ALRC 44), was tabled in 1988.
A related report, Spent Convictions (ALRC 37), was tabled in federal parliament in June 1987.
In July 2004, the Attorney-General asked the ALRC to conduct a further inquiry into sentencing, by reviewing Part IB of the Crimes Act 1914. The final report, Same Crime, Same Time: Sentencing of Federal Offenders (ALRC 103) was tabled in 2006.
There has been partial implementation of the recommendations of ALRC 15, ALRC 43, and ALRC 44.