Did you know?
Legal Aid Queensland maintains comprehensive comparable sentences databases for both adult and juvenile offenders convicted in Queensland courts.
These databases comprise detailed summaries of the relevant facts of numerous sentences imposed in recent years. Most of the sentences recorded in the databases are for indictable offences, but some summary sentences are also recorded.
The databases currently contain almost 11,500 records, including almost all of the sentences considered by the Court of Appeal since its inception in 1991 (comprising approximately one quarter of all sentences in the databases).
The databases are constantly updated with new single judge and appeal sentences. We endeavour to record all new Queensland Court of Appeal sentences.
The content of these databases is derived from information supplied to Legal Aid Queensland by inhouse legal staff and private practitioners.
How are they used?
These databases are a unique resource designed to assist you, the practitioner, to obtain the best possible sentence outcome for your client.
They enable you to to search for a range of comparable sentences which can be presented to the court to demonstrate that a particular sentence is available to your client.
The databases are also an invaluable tool for practitioners wishing to give clients reasonably accurate forecasts of their likely sentence outcomes. They can assist in keeping up to date with current sentencing trends as well.
How can I gain access?
Our comparable sentences databases are intended to be used by legal practitioners on behalf of their clients.
Legal Aid Queensland Preferred Suppliers may access the databases via the internet free of charge. If you are a Preferred Supplier and find that you cannot access comparable sentences, you should email your request to: 
helpdesk@legalaid.qld.gov.au: be sure to type Open Call (capitalised as it appears here) in the subject matter box.
Other practitioners may subscribe to internet access to the databases on an annual basis. A subscription entitles you to unlimited access for the duration of the current subscription period. You will need to have email as well, to receive your username and password details, so be sure to provide your email address on the subscription form.
Both groups may use the databases to assist their legally aided and private clients alike.
How do I subscribe if I don't already have access?
If you don't have access to our Comparable Sentences database, apply for a subscription.