Community Service Orders

Community Service Orders were abolished in New South Wales in 2018. 

What is a “Community Service Order”?

A Community Service Order (CSO) involved either unpaid work in the community at a place specified by Probation and Parole or attendance at a Centre to undertake a course, such as Anger Management. 

In order to be eligible for a CSO you had to be assessed by an officer of the Probation service as suitable to undertake the order. Certain medical conditions could exclude you from being suitable to undertake a work order. 

Legislation:

Suitability and Maximum Hours of Community Service Work:

Before a CSO could be imposed by the Court it must have been satisfied that:

1. You are suitable person for community service work;
2. It is appropriate in all of the circumstances that you be required to perform community service work;
3. The arrangements exist in the area in which you live or intend to live for you to perform community service work; and
4. The community service work can be provided in accordance with those arrangements.

The maximum number of hours of community service that a Court can impose is:

• 100 hours: where the maximum term of imprisonment that can be set by the Court does not exceed six months.
• 200 hours: where the maximum term of imprisonment that can be set by the Court does not exceed 1 year.
• 500 hours: where the maximum term of imprisonment that can be set by the Court exceeds 1 year.

A person could not be directed to perform more than eight hours of community service work in any one day or participate in a development program for more than five hours in any one day, except by agreement with the assigned officer.

Consequences of Breaching or Failing to Complete a Community Service Order:

If a person did not complete the community service hours set by the Court within the time set by the Court, the probation and parole service may advise the Court and a summons be issued for you to attend Court to answer the allegation of you not completing the work. 

If you admitted breaching the CSO the Court can revoke the order and impose a more severe penalty which can include full time gaol. Breaches of CSO are regarded seriously by the Courts as a CSO is an alternative to full time gaol.

The Court of Criminal Appeal in the decision of R v Morris said that if leniency is extended inappropriately:

“There is a very real risk that the whole regimen of non-custodial sentencing options will be discredited both in the eyes of those members of the community who might otherwise have continued to support them and in the eyes of magistrates and judges; and there is a substantial risk that Courts, of their own motion but also reflecting in a general way community opinion, may become increasingly reluctant to extend to offenders those lesser sentencing options which the legislature has provided. It is therefore extremely important that breaches of non-custodial sentencing orders be brought promptly to the notice of the sentencing Court and there be dealt with swiftly and, generally speaking, in a manner which will demonstrate how seriously such breaches are regarded and must be regarded in the community interest.”

When re sentencing an offender for breaching a CSO the Court must take into account any time for which the offender was held in custody for the offence. The Court must also take into account the fact that you were subject to a CSO and anything you did in compliance with the obligations under the order.