Crimes (Sentencing Procedure) Act 1999

A sentence of imprisonment commences, subject to section 71 and to any direction under subsection (2), on the day on which the sentence is imposed.

A court may direct that a sentence of imprisonment—

is taken to have commenced on a day occurring before the day on which the sentence is imposed, or

commences on a day occurring after the day on which the sentence is imposed, but only if the sentence is to be served consecutively (or partly concurrently and partly consecutively) with some other sentence of imprisonment.

In deciding whether or not to make a direction under subsection (2) (a) with respect to a sentence of imprisonment, and in deciding the day on which the sentence is taken to have commenced, the court must take into account any time for which the offender has been held in custody in relation to the offence or, in the case of an aggregate sentence of imprisonment, any of the offences to which the sentence relates.

The day specified in a direction under subsection (2) (b) must not be later than the day following the earliest day on which it appears (on the basis of the information currently available to the court) that the offender—

will become entitled to be released from custody, or

will become eligible to be released on parole,

A direction under subsection (2)(b) must not be made in relation to a sentence of imprisonment, or an aggregate sentence of imprisonment, imposed on an offender who—

is serving some other sentence of imprisonment by way of full-time detention if—

a non-parole period has been set for the other sentence, and

the non-parole period for the other sentence has expired, and

the offender is still in custody under the other sentence, or

is serving some other sentence of imprisonment by way of full-time detention if—

the offender is in full-time detention for a revoked intensive correction order, and

no other full-time custodial sentence applies to the offender.

A sentence of imprisonment (or an aggregate sentence of imprisonment) starts at the beginning of the day on which it commences or is taken to have commenced and ends at the end of the day on which it expires.