Murder

Legislation: Crimes Act 1958 (Vic)

Maximum penalty: life imprisonment

Period: 1 July 2019 to 30 June 2024

Jurisdiction: higher courts

Charges



Cases



Standard sentence

All outcomes

Males

Females

Aged under 25

Aged 25 to 54

Aged 55 and over

*Note: unavailable options have under 10 cases

Charge data

In the higher courts, 85 charges of murder were sentenced in the five years to 30 June 2024. The most common sentence for a charge of this offence was imprisonment (100% or 85 charges).

On SACStat, a charge is a single count of a sentenced offence. Charge data is most useful in understanding how a specific crime is usually sentenced.

Case data

In 79 cases sentenced in the higher courts in the five years to 30 June 2024, murder was the principal proven offence (the most serious crime in the case). Among the 79 cases, 70 people were male and 9 people were female. The most common outcome for cases was imprisonment (100% or 79 cases).

A case is a collection of one or more charges against a person or company sentenced at the one hearing. Case data is most useful in understanding the total sentence usually imposed on people found guilty of a particular crime.

Bar graph showing sentence types imposed for charges of murder — **Figure 1**: Sentencing outcomes for all charges of murder
**Number: 85 charges**

Bar graph showing imprisonment lengths for charges of murder — **Figure 2**: Imprisonment lengths for charges of murder
**Number: 85 charges**
**Range and median**: The shortest imprisonment length is 13 years, the longest is 36 years, and the median is 23 years, meaning that half of the imprisonment lengths are below 23 years and half are above.
**Note**: The graph only includes imprisonment that was not part of an aggregate sentence (non-aggregate imprisonment).

Stacked bar graph showing sentences imposed each year for charges of murder — **Figure 6**: Sentencing outcomes for all charges of murder by financial year
**Number: 85 charges**

Bar graph showing the number of charges each year for the offence of murder — **Figure 7**: Number of charges of murder by financial year
**Number: 85 charges**

Bar graph showing imprisonment lengths each year for charges of murder — **Figure 8**: Average imprisonment lengths for charges of murder by financial year
**Number: 85 charges**
**Note**: The graph only includes imprisonment that was not part of an aggregate sentence (non-aggregate imprisonment).

Bar graph showing sentence types for all offenders for cases of murder — **Figure 11A**: Sentencing outcomes for all people for cases of murder
**Number: 79 cases**

Bar graph showing sentence types for male offenders for cases of murder — **Figure 11B**: Sentencing outcomes for males for cases of murder
**Number: 70 cases**

Bar graph showing sentence types for offenders aged under 25 for cases of murder — **Figure 11D**: Sentencing outcomes for people aged under 25 for cases of murder
**Number: 14 cases**

Bar graph showing sentence types for offenders aged 25 to 54 for cases of murder — **Figure 11E**: Sentencing outcomes for people aged 25 to 54 for cases of murder
**Number: 50 cases**

Bar graph showing sentence types for offenders aged 55 and over for cases of murder — **Figure 11F**: Sentencing outcomes for people aged 55 and over for cases of murder
**Number: 15 cases**

Bar graph showing imprisonment lengths for cases of murder — **Figure 12A**: Imprisonment lengths for cases of murder
**Number: 79 cases**, including imprisonment only (79 cases) and imprisonment combined with a community correction order (0 cases).
**Range and median**: The shortest imprisonment length is 14 years, the longest is 36 years, and the median is 24 years, meaning that half of the imprisonment lengths are below 24 years and half are above.

Bar graph showing imprisonment lengths for males for cases of murder — **Figure 12B**: Imprisonment lengths for males for cases of murder
**Number: 70 cases**
**Range and median**: The shortest imprisonment length is 14 years, the longest is 36 years, and the median is 24 years, meaning that half of the imprisonment lengths are below 24 years and half are above.

Bar graph showing imprisonment lengths for people aged under 25 for cases of murder — **Figure 12D**: Imprisonment lengths for people aged under 25 for cases of murder
**Number: 14 cases**
**Range and median**: The shortest imprisonment length is 14 years, the longest is 36 years, and the median is 19.5 years, meaning that half of the imprisonment lengths are below 19.5 years and half are above.

Bar graph showing imprisonment lengths for people aged 25 to 54 for cases of murder — **Figure 12E**: Imprisonment lengths for people aged 25 to 54 for cases of murder
**Number: 50 cases**
**Range and median**: The shortest imprisonment length is 16 years, the longest is 36 years, and the median is 24 years, meaning that half of the imprisonment lengths are below 24 years and half are above.

Bar graph showing imprisonment lengths for people aged 55 and over for cases of murder — **Figure 12F**: Imprisonment lengths for people aged 55 and over for cases of murder
**Number: 15 cases**
**Range and median**: The shortest imprisonment length is 15 years, the longest is 30 years, and the median is 23.5 years, meaning that half of the imprisonment lengths are below 23.5 years and half are above.

Bar graph showing imprisonment lengths without a community correction order for cases of murder — **Figure 12G**: Imprisonment lengths without a community correction order (CCO) for cases of murder
**Number: 79 cases**
**Range and median**: The shortest imprisonment length is 14 years, the longest is 36 years, and the median is 24 years, meaning that half of the imprisonment lengths are below 24 years and half are above.

Bar graph showing lengths of non-parole periods for cases of murder — **Figure 13**: Non-parole periods for cases of murder
**Number: 78 cases**
**Note**: Imprisonment terms do not include a community correction order.

Stacked bar graph showing sentences imposed each year for cases of murder — **Figure 18**: Sentencing outcomes for all cases of murder by financial year
**Number: 79 cases**

Bar graph showing the number of cases each year for cases of murder — **Figure 19**: Number of cases of murder for all people by financial year
**Number: 79 cases**

Bar graph showing the average imprisonment length each year for cases of murder — **Figure 20A**: Average imprisonment lengths for cases of murder by financial year
**Number: 79 cases**

Bar graph showing the average imprisonment length each year (excluding combined orders) for cases of murder — **Figure 20B**: Average imprisonment lengths (excluding combined orders) for cases of murder by financial year
**Number: 79 cases**

Bar graph showing the average imprisonment length and average non-parole period for each year for cases of murder — **Figure 20C**: Average imprisonment lengths and non-parole periods (NPPs) for cases of murder by financial year
**Number: 70 cases**
**Note**: *NPP Cases* in the graph indicates that only cases with a non-parole period are included.

Bar graph showing age groups of offenders for cases of murder — **Figure 22A**: Ages of offenders (where age is known) for cases of murder
**Number: 79 cases**

Bar graph showing gender of offenders for cases of murder — **Figure 22B**: Gender of offenders (where gender is known) for cases of murder
**Number: 79 cases**

Bar graph showing the number of charges in cases of murder — **Figure 22C**: Number of charges per case (of any sentenced offence) for cases of murder
**Number: 79 cases**

Bar graph showing the number of charges of murder subject to the standard sentence for this offence — **Figure 23**: Sentencing outcomes for charges of standard sentence offences of murder
**Number: 72 charges**

Bar graph showing imprisonment lengths for of charges of murder subject to the standard sentence for this offence — **Figure 24**: Imprisonment lengths for charges of standard sentence offences of murder
**Number: 72 charges**
**Range and median**: The shortest imprisonment length is 13 years, the longest is 36 years, and the median is 23 years, meaning that half of the imprisonment lengths are below 23 years and half are above.

Stacked bar graph showing sentences imposed each year from 2018-19 to 2022-23 for charges of murder subject to the standard sentence for this offence — **Figure 25**: Sentencing outcomes for charges of standard sentence offences of murder by financial year
**Number: 72 charges**

Bar graph showing the number of charges each year between 2018-19 and 2022-23 for the offence of murder subject to the standard sentence for this offence — **Figure 26**: Number of charges of standard sentence offences of murder by financial year
**Number: 72 charges**

Bar graph showing imprisonment lengths each year between 2018-19 and 2022-23 for charges of murder subject to the standard sentence for this offence — **Figure 27**: Average imprisonment lengths for charges of standard sentence offences of murder by financial year
**Number: 72 charges**
**Note**: The graph only includes imprisonment that was not part of an aggregate sentence (non-aggregate imprisonment).

Bar graph showing sentence types for all offenders for cases of murder subject to the standard sentence for this offence — **Figure 28**: Sentencing outcomes for cases of standard sentence offences of murder
**Number: 66 cases**

Bar graph showing imprisonment lengths without a community correction order for cases of murder subject to the standard sentence for this offence — **Figure 29**: Imprisonment lengths for cases of standard sentence offences of murder
**Number: 66 cases**
**Range and median**: The shortest imprisonment length is 14 years, the longest is 36 years, and the median is 23 years, meaning that half of the imprisonment lengths are below 23 years and half are above.

Bar graph showing lengths of non-parole periods for cases of murder subject to the standard sentence for this offence — **Figure 30**: Non-parole periods for cases of standard sentence offences of murder
**Number: 66 cases**
**Range and median**: The shortest non-parole period is 9 years, the longest is 35 years, and the median is 17 years, meaning that half of the non-parole periods are below 17 years and half are above.
**Note**: Imprisonment terms do not include imprisonment combined with a community correction order.

Stacked bar graph showing sentences imposed each year from 2018-19 to 2022-23 for all offenders for cases of murder subject to the standard sentence for this offence — **Figure 31**: Sentencing outcomes for cases of standard sentence offences of murder by financial year
**Number: 66 cases**

Bar graph showing the number of cases for all offenders each year for the offence of murder subject to the standard sentence for this offence — **Figure 32**: Number of cases of standard sentence offences of murder for all people by financial year
**Number: 66 cases**

Bar graph showing imprisonment lengths each year for cases of murder subject to the standard sentence for this offence — **Figure 33A**: Average imprisonment lengths for standard sentence offences for cases of murder by financial year
**Number: 66 cases**

Bar graph showing the average imprisonment length and average non-parole period each year for cases of murder subject to the standard sentence for this offence — **Figure 33B**: Average imprisonment lengths and non-parole periods (NPPs) for cases of standard sentence offences of murder by financial year
**Number: 60 cases**