Published: 22 February 2022
Published: 22 February 2022
At Morrisons we are specialist criminal and traffic lawyers based in Wollongong and the Southern Highlands. If you require advice or representation, you can book an appointment with one of our expert criminal lawyers.
An Intensive Corrections Order (‘ICO’), is a term of imprisonment that is served by an offender in the Community. An ICO provides an alternative to a short prison sentence, in an attempt to “ensure that offenders address their offending behaviour and are held accountable.”
A Court may direct that a term of imprisonment is served in the community, by way of an ICO, where it is in the interests of community safety to do so. This requirement recognises that community safety is not simply met by putting an offender in jail, but that jail can often have the opposite effect on an offender. Focusing on rehabilitation, which is more likely to occur with supervision and access to programs in the community, can often be a more effective way to reduce reoffending.
A court can only impose an ICO as an alternative to fulltime imprisonment where the term of imprisonment does not exceed two years (in the case of a single offence), or three years (for multiple offences). This means, before imposing an ICO, the court must consider three questions:
A court must usually obtain and consider a Sentencing Assessment Report from Community Corrections, prior to making an ICO.
A court cannot impose an ICO for certain offences. These include:
All ICO’s are subject to two mandatory conditions:
A Court must, other than in exceptional circumstances, impose at least one additional condition. These additional conditions can include:
A court can also impose further conditions, that are tailored to meet the needs of a particular offender.
As an ICO is a term of imprisonment, it is important to strictly comply with the conditions of the order.
If an offender fails to comply with their ICO, either by committing further offences or failing to comply with another condition, Community Corrections or the State Parole Authority, may take significant action.
Community Corrections can deal with a minor breach of an ICO in the following ways:
In the case of a more serious breach, Community Corrections will provide a report to the State Parole Authority. The state Parole Authority have the following options in response to a breach:
This page contains general information only. If you have a matter before a NSW Court and require advice or representation for sentencing, you can book an appointment with one of our expert criminal lawyers. Your initial conference is free, and we offer affordable, fixed fee pricing.