What are Standard Non-Parole Periods in New South Wales?

A ‘standard non-parole parole period’ (SNPP) is a guidepost or reference point for a sentencing judge when he or she is deciding how long a person must spend behind bars (called the ‘non-parole period’) before being eligible to apply for release from prison to serve the remainder of his or her sentence in the community on parole.

According to section 54A of the Crimes (Sentencing Procedure) Act 1999 (NSW), ‘the standard non-parole period represents the non-parole period for an offence… taking into account only the objective factors affecting the relative seriousness of that offence, is in the middle of the range of seriousness.’

Section 54B explains that any applicable SNPP is ‘a matter to be taken into account by a court in determining the appropriate sentence for an offender without limiting the matters that are otherwise required or permitted to be taken into account’.

The same section requires a court to ‘make a record of its reasons for setting a non-parole period that is longer or shorter than the standard non-parole period and… identify in the record of its reasons each factor that it took into account.’

In this way, SNPPs are an important consideration during the sentencing for any applicable offence.

That said, the applicable SNPP is certainly not the only relevant consideration – rather, both objective factors (those relating to the crime itself) and subjective ones (those relating to the defendant) can impact on whether the non-parole period ultimately is longer or shorter than the prescribed SNPP.

And not all offences attract SNPPs. Rather, Table to Division 1A of the Act lists all of the offences that attract SNPPs and the corresponding length of the sentence, which are presently as follows:

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