Penalty unit

A penalty unit (PU) is a standard amount of money used to compute penalties for many breaches of law in Australia at both the federal, and state and territory level. Fines are calculated by multiplying the value of a penalty unit by the number of units prescribed for the offence. For example, if a crime was committed in New South Wales worth 100 units, the fine would be 100 × $110 = $11,000.

Penalty units note in reg 256 of ROAD RULES 2014, New South Wales, Australia.

Prior to the introduction of penalty units, fines and other charges were usually prescribed in terms of ordinary money. However, the effects of inflation meant that originally substantial penalties eventually lost their worth. Frequent amendment of the many laws and regulations dealing with pecuniary penalties would be a very time-consuming process. Penalty units provide a quick and simple way to adjust many different fees and charges.

Values

The different jurisdictions that make up Australia each set their own value of a penalty unit. The value as well as the manner and frequency of adjusting that value differ between jurisdictions.

Jurisdiction	Penalty unit value	Last updated	Automatic indexation mechanism
Commonwealth	A$330.00[1][2]	7 November 2024	Typically every three years on 1 July, based on the All Groups Consumer Price Index, a weighted average of the CPI for all capital cities.[3]
Victoria	A$197.59[4][needs update]	1 July 2024	Annual on 1 July.[4]
New South Wales	A$110.00[5]	8 December 1999	None. As of 26 September 2019[update], the value remains unchanged from the original Crimes (Sentencing Procedure) Act 1999.[6]
Queensland	A$161.30[7][needs update]	1 July 2024	Annual on 1 July.[7]
Tasmania	A$202.00[8][needs update]	1 July 2024	Annual on 1 July, based on CPI.[8]
Northern Territory	A$185.00[9][needs update]	1 July 2024	Annual on 1 July, based on CPI for Darwin.[9]
Australian Capital Territory	A$160.00 (individual)[10]	8 November 2018	Every four years.[10]
	A$810.00 (companies)[10]
Western Australia	Various	—	Penalty units are set for different categories of legislation.[11] Traffic offences generally incur a penalty unit of A$50.[12]
South Australia	Not applicable	—	South Australia does not have a system of penalty units.[11] Instead, legislation either lists specific fine amounts or maximum "divisional penalties" which form a standard scale.[13][14]

See also

• Standard scale