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2022-2025
THE PARLIAMENT OF THE COMMONWEALTH OF AUSTRALIA
SENATE
CRIMES AMENDMENT (REPEAL MANDATORY MINIMUM SENTENCES) BILL
2025
EXPLANATORY MEMORANDUM
(Circulated by authority of Senator Faruqi)
CRIMES AMENDMENT (REPEAL MANDATORY MINIMUM SENTENCES) BILL 2025
OUTLINE
This Bill repeals the mandatory minimum sentence provisions that were passed in the Criminal
Code Amendment (Hate Crimes) Act 2025. Mandatory minimum sentences are a dangerous and
unjust tool that have a disproportionate impact on First Nations and other marginalised groups.
They also undermine judicial independence and a fair trial. The Australian Law Reform
Commission,1 the Human Rights Law Centre,2 the Law Council of Australia,3 and the Australian
Lawyers Alliance4 are just a few of the groups that have spoken out against mandatory minimum
sentences. The United Nations Committee against Torture has, on multiple occasions,
recommended that Australia abolish mandatory sentencing law, due to their discriminatory
impact, in particular on First Nations people5.
NOTES ON CLAUSES
Clause 1: Short Title
1. Clause 1 is a formal provision specifying the short title of the Act as the Crimes
Amendment (Repeal Mandatory Minimum Sentences) Act 2025.
Clause 2: Commencement
2. This Bill will commence on the day after the Bill receives the Royal Assent.
Clause 3 - Schedules
3. Each Act specified in a Schedule to this Act is amended or repealed as is set out in the
applicable items in the Schedule. Any other item in a Schedule to this Act has effect
according to its terms.)
1
ALRC (2017) Incarceration Rates of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples, Discussion Paper 84.
2
HRLC, 6 February 2025, Mandatory minimum sentences will not keep communities safe from acts of
hate and racism.
3
Law Council of Australia, Mandatory Sentencing Factsheet
4
The Australia, 20 January 2025, Peter Dutton pledges mandatory sentences for terror and hate crimes
5
UN Committee against Torture, Concluding Observations of the Committee against Torture: Australia,
(2008) and (2014).
Schedule 1--Amendments
Crimes Act 1914
Item 1--Paragraph 15AAA(1)(a)
4. This item makes a consequential amendment to paragraph 15AAA(1)(a) to remove a
reference to items 1A to 1E of the table in section 16AAA.
Items 2 and 3--Section 16AAA
5. These items repeal the items of the table in section 16AAA that provide for mandatory
minimum sentences for offences under the following provisions of the Criminal Code:
subsections 80.2H(1) and 80.2HA(1), Division 101, Division 102, Division 103, and
subsections 80.2BE(1) and (2).
Items 4 and 5--Paragraphs 16AAC(2)(b) and (3)(b)
6. These items amend these paragraphs to revert the drafting of these paragraphs back to the
drafting that existed before the passage of the Criminal Code Amendment (Hate Crimes)
Act 2025.
Item 6--Application
7. Item 6 states that the amendments made by the Bill apply in relation to a conviction that
occurs on or after the commencement of this item if the conduct constituting the offence
occurs wholly on or after that commencement.
Statement of Compatibility with Human Rights
Prepared in accordance with Part 3 of the Human Rights (Parliamentary Scrutiny) Act 2011
Crimes Amendment (Repeal Mandatory Minimum Sentences) Bill 2025
This Bill is compatible with the human rights and freedoms recognised or declared in the
international instruments listed in section 3 of the Human Rights (Parliamentary Scrutiny) Act
2011. It positively engages the right to non-discrimination (International Covenant on Civil and
Political Rights (ICCPR), Article 2), the right to a fair trial (ICCPR, Article 14), and the right to
equality before the law (ICCPR, Article 26).
Overview of the Bill
This is a Bill to repeal the mandatory minimum sentences introduced in the Criminal Code
Amendment (Hate Crimes) Act 2025.
Human rights implications
This Bill positively engages the right to non-discrimination and the right to equality before the
law. Mandatory minimum sentences are a dangerous and discriminatory tool that take away
judicial discretion and remove a judicial officer's ability to consider an individual's
circumstances and the facts before a court. Mandatory minimum sentences have been found to
disproportionately impact marginalised groups. By removing mandatory minimum sentences,
this Bill positively promotes an individual's rights to non-discrimination, a fair trial, and equality
before the law.
Conclusion
This Bill is compatible with human rights as it positively engages human rights issues.
[Senator Mehreen Faruqi]