Page updated on: Friday April 23, 2010
Home detention has been around for a while but the decision whether or not to grant it used to be up to the Parole Board after sentencing. Now the sentencing judge can impose home detention directly. Before you are sentenced to home detention or community detention a probation officer will provide the court with a pre-sentence report outlining whether these options are recommended by them and the details of the recommendations.
Community detention is like a customised curfew that can be in place for up to 6 months. It will generally be electronically monitored but does not have to be. The curfew period must be for between 2 hours and 84 hours in any week, and the times and address of the curfew have to be set at the time of sentence. The court has to be satisfied that you agree to the conditions, the address is suitable, the occupants of the address agree to it and the address is in an area where community detention is being operated.
Community detention may be appropriate if for example you have been convicted a couple of times of "boy racing" at night-time. The court could identify that it is Friday and Saturday nights that are when your offending has occurred and target those times for your curfew. Breaching your community detention is a criminal offence punishable by a maximum term of 6 months imprisonment or a $1500 fine.
Home detention can only be used as a sentence if nothing else would be appropriate and the court would otherwise sentence you to a short term of imprisonment. The length of the home detention sentence must be between 14 days and 12 months. Home detention means you are confined to a particular address all the time unless your probation officer gives you authority to leave that address e.g. for work. Just like community detention, before imposing the sentence of home detention the court must be sure that the offender agrees to the conditions, the address is suitable, the occupants of the address agree and the address is in an area where home detention is operated.
Home detention can be combined with a sentence of reparation, a fine or community work. There are standard conditions of home detention and the court can also impose special conditions. The standard conditions relate to reporting to and complying with directions given by the probation officer, remaining at the home detention residence, possession and production of the home detention order, employment, association, participation in a rehabilitative and re-integrative needs assessment and submission to electronic monitoring of compliance with detention conditions. Special conditions may be imposed in some circumstances relating to your finances, prescription medication (with your consent), a programme, and judicial monitoring.
When the term of home detention is more than 6 months the standard conditions apply to you for another 12 months and the special conditions may apply for some or all of that 12 months. If the home detention is for less than 6 months the court may impose conditions after home detention has ended but it must specify for how long the conditions will last.
If you breach any term or condition of your home detention it is an offence punishable by up to 1 year imprisonment or a $2000 fine. It is also an offence to breach post-detention conditions.
Your entitlements to a benefit are not affected by the fact you are serving a sentence of home detention.