Now lawCrime & Courts Introduced in the House of Representatives, 08 Oct 2025

Federal parole powers move from Attorney-General to board

This law goes with a main law that sets up a new federal Parole Board. It rewrites the Crimes Act, the main federal crime law, so the board can grant, delay, refuse and cancel parole. It also gives the board some powers the minister never had.

Official name: Commonwealth Parole Board (Consequential and Transitional Provisions) Bill 2025

Who it affects

• People in prison for federal crimes: The board decides their parole under new rules on delays, refusals and cancelling before release.
• People already on federal parole: Their current parole orders keep going with the same conditions.
• People convicted of terrorism crimes: They still cannot get parole unless the board finds their case truly unusual.
• The Attorney-General: Their name comes out of the parole parts of the Crimes Act. The board's name goes in.

Attorney-General held parole powers

Parole means leaving prison before the full sentence ends. The person must follow rules and is watched by officers. For people convicted of federal crimes, the Attorney-General used to make these choices. The Attorney-General is the minister in charge of the law. Every state and territory already had a parole board that stands apart from politics.

A main bill, the Commonwealth Parole Board Bill 2025, sets up a new federal board of experts. This second bill does the behind-the-scenes work. It changes Part IB of the Crimes Act 1914. That part holds the rules on federal sentences and parole.

Most of the changes swap the words 'Attorney-General' for the board's name. A few go further and give the board new choices. The government says state parole boards can already do these things.

Powers handed to the board

Part 1 moves the powers across. The board takes over granting parole and setting its conditions. It can change parole orders. It can cancel parole when someone breaks the rules.

It also takes over early release on licence. That is a special early release for unusual cases. It also covers some people held under federal law for mental health reasons. They may have been found unfit to face trial, or not guilty because of mental illness.

When the board decides on parole, it can look at the same things the Attorney-General could. Those include the danger to the community and how the person behaved in prison. They also include the likely effect on the victim.

People can still ask a court to check the board's choices. A judge looks at whether the board followed the law.

Putting off a decision

The non-parole period is the minimum time a court says someone must serve. Under the old rule, the Attorney-General had to say yes or no to parole before it ended.

Now the board has a third choice. It can put off its decision. It must decide no later than 3 months after the minimum time ends. It must tell the person within 14 days and give reasons.

Say a prisoner would be a good fit for parole but has nowhere approved to live yet. Under the old rule they might have been told no. Now the board can wait a few weeks while a home is found.

Longer waits between reviews

If parole is refused, the board must look at it again later. The old limit was 12 months. The board can now set a wait of up to 24 months when it thinks that fits.

The government's example is a prisoner who has just started an 18-month treatment program for sex offenders. A check at 12 months would come before they finish. A longer wait lets them complete it first.

The board must give the person a chance to reply before it sets a longer wait. It can also look again sooner if it wants.

There is one case where the board does not have to look again. That is if the person has 30 days or less left on their sentence after the first 12 months.

Cancelling parole before release

There is often a short gap between a parole order and the day the person walks out. Until now, parole could not be cancelled in that gap. It could only be cancelled after release.

The board can now cancel parole during that gap for 3 reasons. The first is a serious and urgent danger to the community or the person, which rules cannot fix. The second is that the person asks for it. The third is that something the board relied on has changed a lot.

The government's notes give two examples. One is a serious incident inside the prison. Another is when the person's approved home falls through.

The board does not need to warn the person first. It must tell them as soon as it can, with reasons. It must ask for a written reply. If no reply comes within 14 days, the cancelling stands. It then counts as a no to parole. If the board changes its mind, the first order comes back.

Release dates and terror cases

The board can let someone out up to 30 days before their minimum time ends, if that suits the case. The example given is a person starting a new job on a set date. The board can also change the release date on a parole order.

Some people still face a strong bar. These are people convicted of terrorism crimes, or under a control order. A control order is a court order that limits what a person can do because of a terror risk. The board must not grant them parole unless their case is truly unusual. The person has to show what makes it so.

For someone under 18 in that group, the board must treat the child's best interests as a main concern. Keeping the community safe still comes first.

Moving from the old system

Part 2 handles the changeover. Parole orders made by the Attorney-General keep running on the same conditions.

Anything already started under the old rules carries on. The board steps into the Attorney-General's shoes. Anyone owed a letter saying no under the old law gets one under the new law. People keep their right to go to court about earlier choices.

The minister can write extra rules to sort out problems in the changeover. Those rules cannot create crimes or set taxes. They cannot change the Act itself. Parliament can vote them down.

Start date

This law starts on the same day as the main Parole Board law. The government planned for that to be in 2026. It starts by itself if no date is set within 12 months of becoming law.

The bill was brought into the House of Representatives, the lower house of Parliament, on 8 October 2025. The House passed it on 26 November 2025. The Senate, the upper house, passed it on 1 April 2026 with no changes.

The Governor-General signed it into law on 8 April 2026. The Governor-General stands in for the King.

How they voted

Its journey through Parliament

Official sources

• Bill page on aph.gov.au
• Text of the bill
• Explanatory memorandum
• Bills Digest

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