Federal offences include some of the most heinous crimes a person can commit.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
or signup to continue reading
Also known as Commonwealth crimes, this category of offences covers matters like terrorism, child exploitation, people smuggling, human trafficking and slavery.
The ACT was the only jurisdiction to record an increase in the number of federal defendants' cases being finalised last financial year, but the reason was not that sinister.
![The Australian National University in Canberra, which is covered by a suite of federal laws. Picture: Louie Douvis The Australian National University in Canberra, which is covered by a suite of federal laws. Picture: Louie Douvis](/images/transform/v1/crop/frm/fdcx/dc5syd-59ws5gwybmgsud3ohyq.jpg/r0_227_3789_2357_w1200_h678_fmax.jpg)
It turns out people parking illegally at the Australian National University were largely to blame.
According to the Australian Bureau of Statistics, 1076 federal defendants had their cases finalised in the ACT in 2017-18. This was a year-on-year increase of 37 per cent.
"The increase in the Australian Capital Territory was driven by traffic and vehicle regulatory offences, primarily due to an increase in parking offences at the Australian National University," the bureau said in a summary of its key findings on federal defendants.
Closer examination reveals more than 76 per cent of the federal defendants whose cases were finalised in the ACT last financial year faced a principal charge relating to transport. That category alone recorded a 50 per cent increase in 2017-18, with 822 defendants' cases completed.
So, how did flouting the parking restrictions at a university become a federal offence?
The Australian National University was established in 1946 by federal legislation and is still covered today by a suite of federal laws, including a statute that applies most, but not all, ACT parking and traffic laws to university land.
As a result, the territory is an anomaly when it comes to traffic offences being dealt with under federal law. The ACT had more than 10 times the number of federal traffic defendants than any other jurisdiction in 2017-18, according to the Bureau of Statistics.
Federal cases involving child sexual exploitation, fraud, tax, justice offences, Commonwealth officials and Commonwealth property were also finalised in the ACT last financial year.
In 79 per cent of the cases where a federal defendant was proven guilty in the territory in 2017-18, the penalty was a fine. The same proportion of offenders received fines in Western Australia, mainly for tax offences.
Fines were the most common federal sentence type in every state and territory. Nationwide, 51 per cent of federal offenders proven guilty in 2017-18 were fined.
Principal offence categories for federal defendants in the ACT in 2017-18
- Transport: 822
- Commonwealth property: 132
- Communications: 49
- Tax: 32
- Fraud: 17
- Child sexual exploitation: 11
- Justice offences: 11
- Commonwealth officials: 3
The total adds up to 1077 because of a discrepancy in the data.