Key Point
The value of a penalty unit may differ in each jurisdiction and may also differ for corporations and individuals.
Many Acts create offences and then impose penalties for those offences. These penalties are often expressed in terms of penalty units. But what is a penalty unit and how do they work?
A penalty unit is a mechanism by which Parliament can escalate penalties across a range of legislation by amending a single piece of legislation rather than every single Act which sets out a penalty.
Value of a penalty unit
Each Australian jurisdiction has introduced the concept of a penalty unit into its legal frameworks. Generally, states have a monetary value for their penalty units set out in a primary piece of legislation relating to penalties, but there might be different, specific, amounts in other legislation. A summary of the current values of penalty units in each Australian jurisdiction is set out below:
