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The 2021-22 CDPP Annual Report was tabled in Parliament on Friday 28 October 20

The CDPP recently received an overall satisfaction score of 86 per cent from its biennial 2022 Partner Agency Survey.

The CDPP's 2022-26 Corporate Plan is now available.

The Attorney-General of New South Wales today announced the appointment of Ms Sarah McNaughton SC as a judge of the Supreme Court of NSW. 

The CDPP’s Library and Research Services team has won the 2022 Legal Information Service of the Year award announced at the Australian Law Librarians’ Association (ALLA) conference in Hobart on Thursday 26 August.

On 7 July 2022 the Commonwealth Attorney-General, the Honourable Mark Dreyfus QC MP, announced he had declined to proceed further in the prosecution of Mr Bernard Collaery for five offences relating to the alleged unlawful communication of ASIS information contrary to the Intelligence Services

On 11 February 2022, the Commonwealth Director of Public Prosecutions Ms Sarah McNaughton SC announced her decision to decline to proceed further in the criminal prosecutions of Citigroup Global Markets Australia Pty Limited, Deutsche Bank AG and four senior banking executives for cartel offences

The CDPP 2020-21 Annual Report was tabled in Parliament on Wednesday 20 October 2021. 

The Commonwealth Director of Public Prosecutions, Sarah McNaughton SC, has been extended in the role for a further two years.

The CDPP has launched a new Partner Agency Portal, giving investigators from partner agencies easy and timely access to information.
The last 12 months has tested businesses, including the CDPP, to become more agile to effectively deliver services throughout the COVID-19 pandemic.

The Office of the Commonwealth Director of Public Prosecutions (CDPP) is an independent prosecution service established by Parliament under the Director of Public Prosecutions Act 1983 (Cth) to prosecute alleged offences against Commonwealth law.

The Office of the Commonwealth Director of Public Prosecutions is warning members of the community to beware of scammers claiming to be from the CDPP.
The CDPP’s Partner Agencies will soon have access to a refreshed, scalable and dynamic, secure website to support their investigative work.

This is a joint media release between the Australian Federal Police and the Commonwealth Director of Public Prosecutions

A 24-year-old Sydney man has been jailed for nine years and four months after he posed as a teen to exploit and extort explicit images from children online.

Note: This is a joint media release between the Australian Federal Police and the Commonwealth Director of Public Prosecutions

A serial paedophile who abused children in Australia and Southeast Asia has today been sentenced to 35 years imprisonment, with a non-parole period of 28 years.

On 7 November 2019, Richard Ham (21) and Soo Lee (24) were sentenced in the District Court of New South Wales after pleading guilty to attempting to possess a commercial quantity of methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA), more commonly known as ‘ecstasy’.

Today, Perth woman Alesha Stopforth (30) was sentenced in the District Court of Western Australia to 3 years imprisonment, to be released after serving 16 months upon entering into a Recognisance Order in the amount of $10,000 and to be of good behaviour for a period of 20 months, after pleading

Suzanne Akkari (25) was today sentenced to 18 months imprisonment to be released forthwith on a recognisance of $500 and to be of good behaviour for 18 months, after pleading guilty to a charge of aiding, abetting, counselling or procuring another in the arrangement of a marriage to obtain perman

Today*, Savas Avan (49) was sentenced in the County Court of Victoria to 3 years imprisonment, after pleading guilty to mailing packages containing asbestos to consulates and embassies in Melbourne and Canberra.

Today, Luke Borg (36) was sentenced in the County Court of Victoria after pleading guilty to a number of child sex offences.

A man from Sydney was today sentenced to a total term of imprisonment of 34 years, with a non-parole period of 29 years, for preparing and planning a terrorist attack, threatening to kill the NSW Commissioner of Corrective Services and for an attack on an inmate in custody.

Three Victorian men were today sentenced in the Supreme Court of Victoria for the offence of engaging in a terrorist act.  A jury had earlier found the men guilty of this crime by setting fire to a Shia mosque in suburban Melbourne, causing $1.5 million in damage.

The Victorian County Court has today sentenced Mohamed Osman Omar (36), to four years imprisonment, after he pleaded guilty to defrauding the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) of more than $370,000, and attempting to obtain a further amount of more than $85,000.

People Smuggling

People smuggling involves organising and assisting in bringing people to Australia who are not Australian citizens and who do not have valid visas to travel here.

This often involves long and perilous journeys to Australia in overcrowded and rudimentary vessels that are dangerous for the people on board and which may result in the loss of lives. Vessels generally head towards the Australian territories of Christmas Island or Ashmore Reef, rather than attempting to reach the Australian mainland.

Offences for smuggling people into Australia are contained in the Migration Act 1958 and apply to both the organisers of these ventures and the crew of the vessels. There are also ancillary offences such as concealing a person who has illegally entered or intends to enter Australia and false documents in relation to a non-citizen. Some of these offences carry mandatory minimum penalties, such as an offence of aggravated people smuggling (section 233C of the Migration Act 1958) which is committed when a person organises or assists in bringing 5 or more non-citizens without valid visas to Australia.

Main Offences

  • s.233A Migration Act 1958 – offence of people smuggling
  • s.233C Migration Act 1958 – aggravated offence of people smuggling (at least 5 people)
  • s.233B Migration Act 1958 – aggravated offence of people smuggling (exploitation, or danger of death or serious harm etc.).

Penalties

People smuggling offences carry significant maximum terms of imprisonment and mandatory minimum sentences apply to certain offences including section 233C of the Migration Act 1958. The maximum penalty for an offence of people smuggling pursuant to section 233A is 10 years imprisonment. The maximum penalty for an offence of aggravated people smuggling pursuant to sections 233C or 233B is 20 years imprisonment. Section 236A provides that the court may not make an order under section 19B of the Crimes Act (a non-conviction order) in respect of a charge for an offence under section 233C or 233B, unless it is established on the balance of probabilities that the person charged was aged under 18 years at the time that the offence was alleged to have been committed. Section 236B applies if a person is convicted of an offence under sections 233C or 233B, unless it is established on the balance of probabilities that they were aged under 18 years when the offence was committed. It provides that, if the conviction is for a repeat offence, the court must impose a sentence of imprisonment of at least 8 years, with a non-parole period of at least 5 years. In other cases, the court must impose a minimum sentence of 5 years, with a minimum non-parole period of 3 years.

Significant Cases

  • Ahmadi v R [2011] WASCA 237
  • Magaming v R [2013] HCA 40
  • Payara v R [2012] VSCA 146
  • R v Ahmad [2012] NTCCA 1
  • Bahar, Abdullah & Anto v R [2011] WASCA 249

Key Legislation

Practice Group Instructions (PGI)

PGI HEBP No. 1 – Prosecution of juveniles for people smuggling offences

PGI HEBP No. 4 – Age Determination in People Smuggling Prosecutions

PGI HEBP No. 5 – Bail in Adult Crew People Smuggling Prosecutions

Partner Agencies