Canberra drivers convicted for drink-driving are most likely to be punished with a fine of about $750, figures released by the ACT government show.
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About 3365 sentences were imposed on people in the ACT Magistrates Court for drink-driving offences between July 1, 2012 and August 31, 2015.
More than 60 per cent of those sentences was a fine, while the second most common sentence was a good behaviour order, at about 32 per cent.
Men accounted for 81 per cent of offenders.
The figures come from sentencing snapshots, looking at the nine common offences of drink-driving, common assault, assault causing actual bodily harm, theft, possessing drugs, driving while disqualified or suspended, burglary, damage or destroy property and contravene a protection order.
Drink-driving was by far the most common offence of the nine. Compare the offence's 3365 sentences to the 309 sentences imposed for assault causing actual bodily harm, or the 274 offences for contravening a protection order.
The snapshot numbers also show, for example, that good behaviour orders were the most common punishment for assault offences, damaging property and contravening a protection order.
For theft, prison was the most common penalty at about 45 per cent of all sentences, and a most common length of about 3 months.
About 76 per cent of theft offenders were sentenced for multiple offences.
There were in 8071 sentences imposed by courts for the nine offences over the 27-month period, and the snapshots examine gender, age and guilty pleas.
Attorney-General Simon Corbell said the snapshots would help inform magistrates, lawyers and policymakers about sentencing outcomes in the ACT Magistrates Court and Children's Court..
"The sentencing of a criminal offender is a complex task, requiring a judicial officer to balance the competing principles of individualised justice and consistency, and taking into account multiple sentencing factors," he said.
"As the snapshots continue and data builds in volume over the coming years, the ACT will have an important resource to draw on to better understand sentencing trends.
"For our policymakers this will allow detailed analysis of sentencing demographics that could inform strategies to reduce rates of imprisonment and recidivism."
The snapshots – developed from the ACT sentencing database – were funded by the ACT government and the Victims of Crime ACT office, and prepared by Dr Lorana Bartels from the University of Canberra.
In the 2012-13 budget, the government allocated $2.2 million over four years for the development and support of the sentencing database.
