
Three strikes sentencing law is back
Three strikes law
The Sentencing (Reinstating Three Strikes) Amendment Act 2024 has effect from 17 June 2025. The amendments reinstate the three strikes sentencing regime that was repealed in 2022, with modifications that the Government believes will make it more workable.
The three strikes regime in the Sentencing Act 2002 imposes escalating penalties for repeated convictions for specified violent and sexual offences under the Crimes Act 1961. It essentially provides that adult offenders convicted of certain serious violent and sexual offences will receive the maximum sentence, without parole, if they have been twice previously warned for committing the same offence.
Schedule 1AB of the Sentencing Act 2002 lists 42 qualifying offences.
In addition, a sentence of more than 12 months' imprisonment must apply before an offender qualifies for a first warning, and more than 24 months for a second. Both the offence qualification and the penalty qualification must be met for the three strikes law to apply.
The three strikes law was first introduced in 2010, then repealed in 2022, and reinstated in 2025. The original law did not include qualifying sentences, only qualifying offences. In some instances, warnings issued under the 2010 law are reactivated under the 2025 version.
There are three stages to the regime, as the name suggests:
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An offender who is at least 18 years old first commits a qualifying offence, has a qualifying penalty imposed, and receives a first warning.
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The offender commits a qualifying offence, has a qualifying sentence imposed, has received a first warning, and then receives a second warning, also called a subsequent warning. In this case the offender will not be eligible for parole on the sentence imposed.
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The offender commits a qualifying offence after a second warning and is sentenced to the maximum term of imprisonment, without eligibility for parole.
In summary, the first strike is a normal sentence with a warning. The second strike is a normal sentence with no parole and a further warning. The third strike is a maximum sentence with no parole.
The regime includes some exceptions if the outcome would be manifestly unjust, and discounts for guilty pleas.
See the By Lawyers District Court Criminal publication under Sentencing for more information.