The sources of Australian criminal law are the legislation of the Union and individual states, as well as the norms of common law. According to Australian Criminal Justice, criminal liability is one of the types of legal liability, the main content of which is the measures applied by state authorities to a person in connection with the commission of a crime.
Within the Union, in essence, only the Law on State Crimes, adopted in 1914 and repeatedly issued in new editions, is in effect. No criminal codes were published in the remaining states and territories, but according to the English model, consolidated acts established responsibility for certain crimes: murder, assault on the person, and theft.
The main types of punishment provided for by the criminal laws of the federation and the states are imprisonment, probation, and a fine. The death penalty in Australia has now been abolished throughout the country after the states consistently abolished it in 1985.
Periodic imprisonment is used to serve imprisonment; temporary release for work is practiced when the prison term ends. In Australia, as in other developed countries, there is an intensified search for non-custodial penalties and various options for probation, postponement of the trial, sentencing, and execution.
The judicial system of Australia includes federal courts, courts of individual states, and several particular judicial institutions with clearly defined, minimal functions. Both federal and state courts may hear cases by the laws of both the Union and the states. Therefore, federal courts are established only as the highest judicial bodies and perform judicial functions in the Australian Capital and Northern Territories.
The High Court of Australia consists of a President and six members. It examines issues related to the interpretation of the Constitution, disputes between states, complaints about the actions of some federal officials, and claims of criminal offenses provided for by the legislation of the Union.
The Federal Court of Australia consists of a chairperson and twenty-six members and includes general and industrial divisions which deal with labor conflicts. As a court of the first instance, they consider, as a rule, individually, cases of specific categories of labor conflicts, bankruptcy, and some disputes arising in trade practice. The Family Court of Australia consists of a chairperson and forty-three members who consider cases individually or in small panels.
In addition to divorces, the Family Court considers any other disputes between spouses of both property and non-property nature. The court systems of each state and territory are organized and operate independently, and their structure and functions show significant discrepancies. In several states, county courts also deal with cases of criminal offenses, except for the most serious ones and civil cases with a claim exceeding the competence of lower courts.