Rape

Legislation: Crimes Act 1958 (Vic) s 38(1)

Maximum penalty: 25 years imprisonment

Period: 1 July 2019 to 30 June 2024

Jurisdiction: higher courts

Charges

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Cases

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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, 446 charges of rape were sentenced in the five years to 30 June 2024. The most common sentence for a charge of this offence was imprisonment (96.6% or 431 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 252 cases sentenced in the higher courts in the five years to 30 June 2024, rape was the principal proven offence (the most serious crime in the case). Among the 252 cases, 247 people were male and 5 people were female. The most common outcome for cases was imprisonment (92.9% or 234 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 rape — **Figure 1**: Sentencing outcomes for all charges of rape
**Number: 446 charges**

Bar graph showing imprisonment lengths for charges of rape — **Figure 2**: Imprisonment lengths for charges of rape
**Number: 429 charges**
**Range and median**: The shortest imprisonment length is 0.02 years, the longest is 15 years, and the median is 6.25 years, meaning that half of the imprisonment lengths are below 6.25 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 youth justice centre orders for charges of rape — **Figure 3**: Youth justice centre order lengths for charges of rape
**Number: 10 charges**
**Note**: The graph only includes youth justice centre orders that were not part of an aggregate sentence (non-aggregate youth justice centre order).
**Range and median**: The shortest youth justice centre order length is 1 year, the longest is 4 years, and the median is 2.25 years, meaning that half of the youth justice centre order lengths are below 2.25 years and half are above.

Stacked bar graph showing sentences imposed each year for charges of rape — **Figure 6**: Sentencing outcomes for all charges of rape by financial year
**Number: 446 charges**

Bar graph showing the number of charges each year for the offence of rape — **Figure 7**: Number of charges of rape by financial year
**Number: 446 charges**

Bar graph showing imprisonment lengths each year for charges of rape — **Figure 8**: Average imprisonment lengths for charges of rape by financial year
**Number: 429 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 rape — **Figure 11A**: Sentencing outcomes for all people for cases of rape
**Number: 252 cases**

Bar graph showing sentence types for male offenders for cases of rape — **Figure 11B**: Sentencing outcomes for males for cases of rape
**Number: 247 cases**

Bar graph showing sentence types for offenders aged under 25 for cases of rape — **Figure 11D**: Sentencing outcomes for people aged under 25 for cases of rape
**Number: 29 cases**

Bar graph showing sentence types for offenders aged 25 to 54 for cases of rape — **Figure 11E**: Sentencing outcomes for people aged 25 to 54 for cases of rape
**Number: 198 cases**

Bar graph showing sentence types for offenders aged 55 and over for cases of rape — **Figure 11F**: Sentencing outcomes for people aged 55 and over for cases of rape
**Number: 25 cases**

Bar graph showing imprisonment lengths for cases of rape — **Figure 12A**: Imprisonment lengths for cases of rape
**Number: 240 cases**, including imprisonment only (234 cases) and imprisonment combined with a community correction order (6 cases).
**Range and median**: The shortest imprisonment length is 0.11 years, the longest is 29 years, and the median is 7 years, meaning that half of the imprisonment lengths are below 7 years and half are above.

Bar graph showing imprisonment lengths for males for cases of rape — **Figure 12B**: Imprisonment lengths for males for cases of rape
**Number: 235 cases**
**Range and median**: The shortest imprisonment length is 0.11 years, the longest is 29 years, and the median is 7 years, meaning that half of the imprisonment lengths are below 7 years and half are above.

Bar graph showing imprisonment lengths for people aged under 25 for cases of rape — **Figure 12D**: Imprisonment lengths for people aged under 25 for cases of rape
**Number: 20 cases**
**Range and median**: The shortest imprisonment length is 1 year, the longest is 12 years, and the median is 6.08 years, meaning that half of the imprisonment lengths are below 6.08 years and half are above.

Bar graph showing imprisonment lengths for people aged 25 to 54 for cases of rape — **Figure 12E**: Imprisonment lengths for people aged 25 to 54 for cases of rape
**Number: 197 cases**
**Range and median**: The shortest imprisonment length is 1 year, the longest is 29 years, and the median is 7.33 years, meaning that half of the imprisonment lengths are below 7.33 years and half are above.

Bar graph showing imprisonment lengths for people aged 55 and over for cases of rape — **Figure 12F**: Imprisonment lengths for people aged 55 and over for cases of rape
**Number: 23 cases**
**Range and median**: The shortest imprisonment length is 0.11 years, the longest is 15 years, and the median is 6.83 years, meaning that half of the imprisonment lengths are below 6.83 years and half are above.

Bar graph showing imprisonment lengths without a community correction order for cases of rape — **Figure 12G**: Imprisonment lengths without a community correction order (CCO) for cases of rape
**Number: 234 cases**
**Range and median**: The shortest imprisonment length is 1.5 years, the longest is 29 years, and the median is 7 years, meaning that half of the imprisonment lengths are below 7 years and half are above.

Bar graph showing lengths of non-parole periods for cases of rape — **Figure 13**: Non-parole periods for cases of rape
**Number: 233 cases**
**Note**: Imprisonment terms do not include a community correction order.

Stacked bar graph showing sentences imposed each year for cases of rape — **Figure 18**: Sentencing outcomes for all cases of rape by financial year
**Number: 252 cases**

Bar graph showing the number of cases each year for cases of rape — **Figure 19**: Number of cases of rape for all people by financial year
**Number: 252 cases**

Bar graph showing the average imprisonment length each year for cases of rape — **Figure 20A**: Average imprisonment lengths for cases of rape by financial year
**Number: 240 cases**

Bar graph showing the average imprisonment length each year (excluding combined orders) for cases of rape — **Figure 20B**: Average imprisonment lengths (excluding combined orders) for cases of rape by financial year
**Number: 234 cases**

Bar graph showing the average imprisonment length and average non-parole period for each year for cases of rape — **Figure 20C**: Average imprisonment lengths and non-parole periods (NPPs) for cases of rape by financial year
**Number: 232 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 rape — **Figure 22A**: Ages of offenders (where age is known) for cases of rape
**Number: 252 cases**

Bar graph showing gender of offenders for cases of rape — **Figure 22B**: Gender of offenders (where gender is known) for cases of rape
**Number: 252 cases**

Bar graph showing the number of charges in cases of rape — **Figure 22C**: Number of charges per case (of any sentenced offence) for cases of rape
**Number: 252 cases**

Bar graph showing the number of charges of rape subject to the standard sentence for this offence — **Figure 23**: Sentencing outcomes for charges of standard sentence offences of rape
**Number: 273 charges**

Bar graph showing imprisonment lengths for of charges of rape subject to the standard sentence for this offence — **Figure 24**: Imprisonment lengths for charges of standard sentence offences of rape
**Number: 261 charges**
**Range and median**: The shortest imprisonment length is 1.5 years, the longest is 15 years, and the median is 6.67 years, meaning that half of the imprisonment lengths are below 6.67 years and half are above.

Stacked bar graph showing sentences imposed each year from 2018-19 to 2022-23 for charges of rape subject to the standard sentence for this offence — **Figure 25**: Sentencing outcomes for charges of standard sentence offences of rape by financial year
**Number: 273 charges**

Bar graph showing the number of charges each year between 2018-19 and 2022-23 for the offence of rape subject to the standard sentence for this offence — **Figure 26**: Number of charges of standard sentence offences of rape by financial year
**Number: 273 charges**

Bar graph showing imprisonment lengths each year between 2018-19 and 2022-23 for charges of rape subject to the standard sentence for this offence — **Figure 27**: Average imprisonment lengths for charges of standard sentence offences of rape by financial year
**Number: 261 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 rape subject to the standard sentence for this offence — **Figure 28**: Sentencing outcomes for cases of standard sentence offences of rape
**Number: 178 cases**

Bar graph showing imprisonment lengths without a community correction order for cases of rape subject to the standard sentence for this offence — **Figure 29**: Imprisonment lengths for cases of standard sentence offences of rape
**Number: 169 cases**
**Range and median**: The shortest imprisonment length is 1.5 years, the longest is 29 years, and the median is 7 years, meaning that half of the imprisonment lengths are below 7 years and half are above.

Bar graph showing lengths of non-parole periods for cases of rape subject to the standard sentence for this offence — **Figure 30**: Non-parole periods for cases of standard sentence offences of rape
**Number: 168 cases**
**Range and median**: The shortest non-parole period is 0.67 years, the longest is 22 years, and the median is 4.62 years, meaning that half of the non-parole periods are below 4.62 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 rape subject to the standard sentence for this offence — **Figure 31**: Sentencing outcomes for cases of standard sentence offences of rape by financial year
**Number: 178 cases**

Bar graph showing the number of cases for all offenders each year for the offence of rape subject to the standard sentence for this offence — **Figure 32**: Number of cases of standard sentence offences of rape for all people by financial year
**Number: 178 cases**

Bar graph showing imprisonment lengths each year for cases of rape subject to the standard sentence for this offence — **Figure 33A**: Average imprisonment lengths for standard sentence offences for cases of rape by financial year
**Number: 169 cases**

Bar graph showing the average imprisonment length and average non-parole period each year for cases of rape 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 rape by financial year
**Number: 168 cases**