Mandatory Sentencing (NSW)
All Australian jurisdictions have some form of mandatory sentencing. Mandatory sentencing refers to the offences which have a prescribed mandatory penalty or sentence by Parliament. Mandatory sentences involve either a mandatory sentence of life imprisonment or a mandatory sentence to imprisonment for a number of years.
Mandatory sentences are different from ‘standard non-parole periods’. Mandatory sentences are the penalties that must be imposed by the Courts for an offence compared to a standard non-parole period which indicates the usual period of imprisonment for an offence to the Court and are used as a sentencing yardstick.
The statutory mandatory sentences do not apply to persons who committed the relevant offences that were less than 18 years of age however the common law principles may still apply.
Below is a list of offences which carry mandatory sentences and the circumstances in which the mandatory sentence will be handed down.
Section | Offence | Circumstances | Mandatory Sentence |
| 61(1) Crimes Act 1900 | Murder | If the Court is satisfied that the level of culpability in the commission of the offence is so extreme that the community interest in retribution, punishment, community protection and deterrence can only be met through the imposition of that sentence. | Life imprisonment |
| 61(2) Crimes Act 1900 | Serious Heroin or Cocaine Trafficking Offence | If the Court is satisfied that the level of culpability in the commission of the offence is so extreme that the community interest in retribution, punishment, community protection and deterrence can only be met through the imposition of that sentence. The Court also must be satisfied that:
| Life imprisonment |
| 19B Crimes Act 1900 | Murder of Police Officer | If the murder was committed:
| Life imprisonment |
| 25B Crimes Act 1900 | Assault Causing Death | The Court is required to impose a sentence of imprisonment of not less than 8 years on a person guilty of assault causing death. | 8 years imprisonment |