Michael Keenan (Stirling, Liberal Party, Minister for Justice) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I move:

That this bill be now read a second time.

The Crimes Legislation Amendment (Penalty Unit) Bill 2015 will ensure that the penalties imposed under Commonwealth legislation remain effective deterrents of crime to make our communities safer.

Penalty units are used to set the maximum fines which can be imposed for Commonwealth criminal offences, as well as those in territory ordinances. Commonwealth penalties are generally expressed in terms of penalty units rather than specific values to allow penalties across the statute book to be easily updated.

The bill will increase the amount of the Commonwealth penalty unit from $170 to $180, and will provide a mechanism for the amount to be indexed every three years according to the consumer price index (CPI). These measures will apply to all offences across the Commonwealth statute book.

Maintaining the value of the penalty unit over time is necessary to ensure that financial penalties for Commonwealth offences keep pace with inflation and continue to remain an effective deterrent to unlawful behaviour.

This bill gives effect to a measure in the 2015-16 budget. The increase in the penalty unit amount will take effect from 31 July 2015. The first indexation of the amount based on inflation will occur on 1 July 2018, and then again every three years following that.

The increase to the penalty unit amount will strengthen financial penalties for all Commonwealth offences, including those related to white-collar crime and serious and organised crime.

Strong financial penalties are important for deterring unlawful behaviour and making Australia a hostile environment for serious organised crime.

This government places a high priority on tackling crime and keeping our community safe.

The Crimes Legislation Amendment (Penalty Unit) Bill 2015 will further our efforts to do this, by ensuring that our financial penalties remain an effective deterrent to criminal behaviour.

I commend the bill to the House.

Debate adjourned.