Obtain property by deception

Legislation: Crimes Act 1958 (Vic) s 81(1)

Maximum penalty: 10 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, 521 charges of obtain property by deception were sentenced in the five years to 30 June 2024. The most common sentence for a charge of this offence was imprisonment (73.5% or 383 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 56 cases sentenced in the higher courts in the five years to 30 June 2024, obtain property by deception was the principal proven offence (the most serious crime in the case). Among the 56 cases, 43 people were male and 13 people were female. The most common outcome for cases was imprisonment (55.4% or 31 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 obtain property by deception — **Figure 1**: Sentencing outcomes for all charges of obtain property by deception
**Number: 521 charges**

Bar graph showing imprisonment lengths for charges of obtain property by deception — **Figure 2**: Imprisonment lengths for charges of obtain property by deception
**Number: 274 charges**
**Range and median**: The shortest imprisonment length is 0.02 years, the longest is 5 years, and the median is 0.5 years, meaning that half of the imprisonment lengths are below 0.5 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 obtain property by deception — **Figure 4**: Community correction order lengths for charges of obtain property by deception
**Number: 71 charges**
**Range and median**: The shortest community correction order length is 0.5 years, the longest is 4 years, and the median is 2.83 years, meaning that half of the community correction order lengths are below 2.83 years and half are above.

Stacked bar graph showing sentences imposed each year for charges of obtain property by deception — **Figure 6**: Sentencing outcomes for all charges of obtain property by deception by financial year
**Number: 521 charges**

Bar graph showing the number of charges each year for the offence of obtain property by deception — **Figure 7**: Number of charges of obtain property by deception by financial year
**Number: 521 charges**

Bar graph showing imprisonment lengths each year for charges of obtain property by deception — **Figure 8**: Average imprisonment lengths for charges of obtain property by deception by financial year
**Number: 274 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 obtain property by deception — **Figure 9**: Average community correction order lengths for charges of obtain property by deception by financial year
**Number: 71 charges**

Bar graph showing sentence types for all offenders for cases of obtain property by deception — **Figure 11A**: Sentencing outcomes for all people for cases of obtain property by deception
**Number: 56 cases**

Bar graph showing sentence types for male offenders for cases of obtain property by deception — **Figure 11B**: Sentencing outcomes for males for cases of obtain property by deception
**Number: 43 cases**

Bar graph showing sentence types for female offenders for cases of obtain property by deception — **Figure 11C**: Sentencing outcomes for females for cases of obtain property by deception
**Number: 13 cases**

Bar graph showing sentence types for offenders aged 25 to 54 for cases of obtain property by deception — **Figure 11E**: Sentencing outcomes for people aged 25 to 54 for cases of obtain property by deception
**Number: 43 cases**

Bar graph showing sentence types for offenders aged 55 and over for cases of obtain property by deception — **Figure 11F**: Sentencing outcomes for people aged 55 and over for cases of obtain property by deception
**Number: 11 cases**

Bar graph showing imprisonment lengths for cases of obtain property by deception — **Figure 12A**: Imprisonment lengths for cases of obtain property by deception
**Number: 39 cases**, including imprisonment only (31 cases) and imprisonment combined with a community correction order (8 cases).
**Range and median**: The shortest imprisonment length is 0.08 years, the longest is 6.5 years, and the median is 3 years, meaning that half of the imprisonment lengths are below 3 years and half are above.

Bar graph showing imprisonment lengths for males for cases of obtain property by deception — **Figure 12B**: Imprisonment lengths for males for cases of obtain property by deception
**Number: 31 cases**
**Range and median**: The shortest imprisonment length is 0.33 years, the longest is 6.5 years, and the median is 3 years, meaning that half of the imprisonment lengths are below 3 years and half are above.

Bar graph showing imprisonment lengths for people aged 25 to 54 for cases of obtain property by deception — **Figure 12E**: Imprisonment lengths for people aged 25 to 54 for cases of obtain property by deception
**Number: 32 cases**
**Range and median**: The shortest imprisonment length is 0.08 years, the longest is 6.5 years, and the median is 3 years, meaning that half of the imprisonment lengths are below 3 years and half are above.

Bar graph showing imprisonment lengths without a community correction order for cases of obtain property by deception — **Figure 12G**: Imprisonment lengths without a community correction order (CCO) for cases of obtain property by deception
**Number: 31 cases**
**Range and median**: The shortest imprisonment length is 0.17 years, the longest is 6.5 years, and the median is 3.5 years, meaning that half of the imprisonment lengths are below 3.5 years and half are above.

Bar graph showing lengths of non-parole periods for cases of obtain property by deception — **Figure 13**: Non-parole periods for cases of obtain property by deception
**Number: 31 cases**
**Note**: Imprisonment terms do not include a community correction order.

Bar graph showing lengths of community correction orders for cases of obtain property by deception — **Figure 16**: Community correction order lengths for cases of obtain property by deception
**Number: 12 cases**
**Range and median**: The shortest community correction order length is 2 years, the longest is 3.83 years, and the median is 3 years, meaning that half of the community correction order lengths are below 3 years and half are above.

Stacked bar graph showing sentences imposed each year for cases of obtain property by deception — **Figure 18**: Sentencing outcomes for all cases of obtain property by deception by financial year
**Number: 56 cases**

Bar graph showing the number of cases each year for cases of obtain property by deception — **Figure 19**: Number of cases of obtain property by deception for all people by financial year
**Number: 56 cases**

Bar graph showing the average imprisonment length each year for cases of obtain property by deception — **Figure 20A**: Average imprisonment lengths for cases of obtain property by deception by financial year
**Number: 39 cases**

Bar graph showing the average imprisonment length each year (excluding combined orders) for cases of obtain property by deception — **Figure 20B**: Average imprisonment lengths (excluding combined orders) for cases of obtain property by deception by financial year
**Number: 31 cases**

Bar graph showing the average imprisonment length and average non-parole period for each year for cases of obtain property by deception — **Figure 20C**: Average imprisonment lengths and non-parole periods (NPPs) for cases of obtain property by deception by financial year
**Number: 27 cases**
**Note**: *NPP Cases* in the graph indicates that only cases with a non-parole period are included.

Bar graph showing lengths of community correction orders with and without imprisonment for cases of obtain property by deception — **Figure 21**: Average community correction order (CCO) lengths for cases of obtain property by deception by financial year
**Number: 12 cases**

Bar graph showing age groups of offenders for cases of obtain property by deception — **Figure 22A**: Ages of offenders (where age is known) for cases of obtain property by deception
**Number: 56 cases**

Bar graph showing gender of offenders for cases of obtain property by deception — **Figure 22B**: Gender of offenders (where gender is known) for cases of obtain property by deception
**Number: 56 cases**

Bar graph showing the number of charges in cases of obtain property by deception — **Figure 22C**: Number of charges per case (of any sentenced offence) for cases of obtain property by deception
**Number: 56 cases**