The mon­e­tary amount of penal­ties for offences under Com­mon­wealth leg­is­la­tion are set to increase sig­nif­i­cant­ly by the end of 2012 under leg­is­la­tion recent­ly passed by Parliament.

The leg­is­la­tion imple­ment­ing the increase is con­tained in the Crimes Leg­is­la­tion Amend­ment (Seri­ous Drugs, Iden­ti­ty Crime and Oth­er Mea­sures) Bill 2012, which was assent­ed to on 28 Novem­ber 2012. The effect of the leg­is­la­tion is that the val­ue of penal­ty units imposed for offences under Com­mon­wealth leg­is­la­tion will increase from $110.00 to $170.00. The amend­ments are said to reflect changes in the Con­sumer Price Index (CPI) and they also pro­vide for three-year­ly reviews of penal­ty unit val­ues going forward.

The increase will apply to penal­ties for offences under all Com­mon­wealth leg­is­la­tion to which the penal­ty unit def­i­n­i­tion set out sub-sec­tion 4AA(1) of the Crimes Act 1914 (Cth) applies. This includes for exam­ple, offences under the Cor­po­ra­tions Act 2001 (Cth), Fair Work Act 2009 (Cth), Com­pe­ti­tion and Con­sumer Act 2010 (Cth) and Copy­right Act 1968 (Cth).

The increas­es are due to take effect by 28 Decem­ber 2012, and will only apply to offences com­mit­ted after the com­mence­ment of the new penal­ty unit value.

If you would like to repub­lish this arti­cle, it is gen­er­al­ly approved, but pri­or to doing so please con­tact the Mar­ket­ing team at marketing@​swaab.​com.​au. This arti­cle is not legal advice and the views and com­ments are of a gen­er­al nature only. This arti­cle is not to be relied upon in sub­sti­tu­tion for detailed legal advice.

Publications

Dis­missal for Dissent?

The recent unfair dis­missal deci­sion of the Fair Work Com­mis­sion, Shaun Turn­er v Dare­bin City Coun­cil [2025] FWC 1763, in which Deputy…

Con­struc­tion con­tract time­frames and their inter­ac­tion with the NSW Secu­ri­ty of Pay­ment legislation.

Mark Glynn, Con­struc­tion Part­ner at Swaab con­sid­ers the recent deci­sion of Shar­vain Facades Pty Ltd (Admin­is­tra­tors Appoint­ed) v Roberts Co (NSW)…

10 Tips For Stra­ta Reme­di­al Con­struc­tion Contracts

Are you won­der­ing why your stra­ta work to repair or main­tain your stra­ta build­ing is over bud­get, rid­dled with delays…

In the News

Press Release | New Senior Asso­ciate Appoint­ment — Joshua Bernie

With more than 10 years’ expe­ri­ence in stra­ta and con­struc­tion dis­pute res­o­lu­tion across Aus­tralia and the UK, Joshua brings with him…

Press Release | We are pleased to announce five senior pro­mo­tions in key prac­tice areas of the firm effec­tive, 1 July 2025

Con­grat­u­la­tions:Maris­sa Arag­o­na — AssociateRamesh Chamala — AssociateAaron Boz — AssociateWilliam Clement — Senior AssociateKel­lie Van Mun­ster — Spe­cial Counsel “I am per­son­al­ly delight­ed…

Michael Byrnes quot­ed in the arti­cle, “‘Creep­ing’ unfair dis­missal thresh­old will increase to $183k on 1 July”, pub­lished in HR Leader on 27 June 2025

Michael Byrnes quot­ed in the arti­cle, “‘Creep­ing’ unfair dis­missal thresh­old will increase to $183k on 1 July”, pub­lished in HR Leader…

Sign up for our Newsletter

*Mandatory information