Fail to answer bail

Legislation: Bail Act 1977 (Vic) s 30(1)

Maximum penalty: 2 years imprisonment

Period: 1 July 2019 to 30 June 2024

Jurisdiction: higher courts

Charges

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Cases

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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, 113 charges of fail to answer bail were sentenced in the five years to 30 June 2024. The most common sentence for a charge of this offence was imprisonment (61.9% or 70 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 the higher courts, fail to answer bail was the principal proven offence (the most serious crime in the case) in fewer than 10 cases in the five years to 30 June 2024. Therefore, outcomes for cases are not given for this offence.

Bar graph showing sentence types imposed for charges of fail to answer bail — **Figure 1**: Sentencing outcomes for all charges of fail to answer bail
**Number: 113 charges**

Bar graph showing imprisonment lengths for charges of fail to answer bail — **Figure 2**: Imprisonment lengths for charges of fail to answer bail
**Number: 59 charges**
**Range and median**: The shortest imprisonment length is 0 years (i.e. the prison sentence was one or two days), the longest is 0.5 years, and the median is 0.08 years, meaning that half of the imprisonment lengths are below 0.08 years and half are above.
**Note**: The graph only includes imprisonment that was not part of an aggregate sentence (non-aggregate imprisonment).

Bar graph showing lengths of community correction orders for charges of fail to answer bail — **Figure 4**: Community correction order lengths for charges of fail to answer bail
**Number: 10 charges**
**Range and median**: The shortest community correction order length is 1 year, the longest is 2 years, and the median is 1.5 years, meaning that half of the community correction order lengths are below 1.5 years and half are above.

Bar graph showing fine amounts for charges of fail to answer bail — **Figure 5**: Fine amounts for charges of fail to answer bail
**Number: 13 charges**
**Range and median**: The lowest fine amount is $200, the highest is $1,200, and the median is $250, meaning that half of the fine amounts are below $250 and half are above.
**Note**: The graph only includes fines that were not part of an aggregate sentence (non-aggregate fines).

Stacked bar graph showing sentences imposed each year for charges of fail to answer bail — **Figure 6**: Sentencing outcomes for all charges of fail to answer bail by financial year
**Number: 113 charges**

Bar graph showing the number of charges each year for the offence of fail to answer bail — **Figure 7**: Number of charges of fail to answer bail by financial year
**Number: 113 charges**

Bar graph showing imprisonment lengths each year for charges of fail to answer bail — **Figure 8**: Average imprisonment lengths for charges of fail to answer bail by financial year
**Number: 59 charges**
**Note**: The graph only includes imprisonment that was not part of an aggregate sentence (non-aggregate imprisonment).

Bar graph showing community correction order lengths each year for charges of fail to answer bail — **Figure 9**: Average community correction order lengths for charges of fail to answer bail by financial year
**Number: 10 charges**

Bar graph showing fines amounts each year for charges of fail to answer bail — **Figure 10**: Average fine amounts for charges of fail to answer bail by financial year
**Number: 13 charges**
**Note**: The graph only includes fines that were not part of an aggregate sentence (non-aggregate fines).