The legislation will be amended following its 2022 repeal
The government has confirmed plans to reintroduce the Three Strikes legislation, announced Associate Justice Minister Nicole McKee.
"Our government is committed to restoring law and order and enforcing appropriate consequences on criminals. We are making it clear that repeat serious violent or sexual offending is not acceptable in our society”, she said. “This government will ensure that sentencing for repeat offending properly recognises the harm caused to victims and communities”.
The law was repealed back in 2022; McKee explained that it would undergo revision.
“We are making changes to create a more workable regime and also to address issues that arose under the previous law, such as capturing minor offending," she said.
The amended legislation will still include the same 40 serious violent and sexual offences as the original law, with the addition of new offences related to strangulation and suffocation. Nonetheless, the Three Strikes rule will now only apply to sentences longer than 24 months.
The revised law expands the “manifestly unjust” exception to provide judges with greater flexibility in preventing disproportionate sentencing in atypical cases. It also offers limited incentives for guilty pleas to help minimise the re-traumatisation of victims and reduce court delays.
Moreover, individuals convicted of murder while on their second or third strike will face “appropriately lengthy” non-parole periods.
"We are sending a strong message that repeat offending will not be tolerated," McKee said. "This is a priority for the government and continues the progress we have already made on restoring law and order, through changes to repeal the funding for section 27 reports and measures to crack down on gangs," she concluded.
The minister plans to submit a draft bill and paper to Cabinet by the end of June, with the intention of introducing the bill in the House shortly thereafter.
