Attempts

Contributed by Bill de Mars and Judith Fordham and current to 1 September 2005

A person need not necessarily complete an offence in order to be criminally liable. The prosecution need only show that a person intended to commit the offence and took some steps towards that purpose in order to prove attempt (s.4 Criminal Code). In the case of simple offences, the punishment for attempt is the same as for committing the offence, while for indictable offences (that is, more serious offences) it is generally half that of committing the offence.