The fourth most severe sentence available for Commonwealth offences is a bond with conviction under section 20(1)(a) of the Crimes Act 1914 (Cth) (the Act).
Length of a Good Behaviour Bond with Conviction
A bond with conviction may be conditional on the person being of good behaviour (i.e. not committing further offences) for a specified period. This specified period cannot be more than five years.[1]
Bond Conditions
Reparations and payments
A bond with conviction may include conditions that an offender must abide by. These conditions may include making a reparation or restitution or paying compensation or costs. These may be ordered to be made before a specified date or by specified instalments.[2]
Financial penalty
A court may impose a condition of a bond with conviction that the offender will pay the Commonwealth an amount of money the court specifies in the order, on or before a date specified in the order or by specified instalments.[3]
The maximum financial penalty a court can attach to a bond with conviction depends on the maximum penalty of the relevant offence. If the offence is punishable by a fine, the court cannot impose more than the maximum fine.[4] If the offence is not punishable by a fine, the maximum financial penalty that can be attached to a bond with conviction is 300 penalty units for a court not in the summary jurisdiction and 60 penalty units for a court in the summary jurisdiction.[5]
The value of a penalty unit in the Commonwealth Jurisdiction is around $210 for offences committed in or after 2017.[6]
Other conditions
A court may also impose any condition the Court thinks fit to specify in the order for up to 2 years.[7]
Any condition the court imposes must be consistent with the release of the person and the person must be reasonably capable of complying with it.[8]
A bond with conviction may include a condition that an offender be supervised by a probation officer for up to 2 years.[9] Where this is a condition of a good behaviour bond, an offender must obey all reasonable directions of the probation officer.[10]
A bond with conviction may also contain a condition requiring the offender undertake treatment, counselling or education throughout the bond period.[11]
Breaching a Bond
If a person breaches a bond, then proceedings may be brought for a bond breach.[12]
[1] s 20(1)(a) Crimes Act 1914 (Cth)
[2] S 20(1)(a)(ii) Crimes Act 1914 (Cth)
[3] S 20(1)(a)(iii) Crimes Act 1914 (Cth)
[4] S 20(5)(a) Crimes Act 1914 (Cth)
[5] S 20(5)(b)(i)(ii) Crimes Act 1914 (Cth)
[6] S 4AA Crimes Act 1914 (Cth)
[7] S 20(1)(a)(iv) Crimes Act 1914 (Cth)
[8] Temby v Schulze (1991) 57 A Crim R 284
[9] S 20(1A) Crimes Act 1914 (Cth)
[10] S 20(1A)(b) Crimes Act 1914 (Cth)
[11] S 20(1)(a)(iv) Crimes Act 1914 (Cth)
[12] S 20A(1A) Crimes Act 1914 (Cth)
