The Crimes Legislation Amendment (Penalty Unit) Bill 2015, which contains penalty unit amount increases, has been passed by the House of Representatives and has been introduced into the Senate.

UPDATE: Bill passed by the Senate on 18 June 2015. Royal Assent given on 26 June 2015.

If passed, the Bill will increase the Commonwealth penalty unit amount from $170 to $180, and provide a mechanism for the amount to be indexed every three years according to the Consumer Price Index (CPI).

Penalty units are used to describe the amount payable for monetary penalties imposed for criminal offences in Commonwealth legislation (including the Corporations Act, the National Credit Act, the AML/CTF Act and the Privacy Act).

The penalty unit mechanism allows the maximum monetary penalty for all offences under Commonwealth laws, or Territory ordinances, to be automatically adjusted with a single amendment to section 4AA of the Crimes Act. This removes the need for multiple legislative amendments and ensures that monetary penalties in Commonwealth legislation and Territory ordinances remain comparable.

The 2015-16 Budget includes a measure to increase the value of the penalty unit from $170 to $180, with effect from 31 July 2015. Indexation will occur on 1 July every three years, with the first indexation occurring on 1 July 2018.