Here Are 15 Crimes With Lower Penalties Than Strawberry Tampering

    The maximum sentence is now 15 years.

    Hannah Ryan
    by Hannah Ryan

    BuzzFeed News Reporter, Australia

    The government is planning to increase the penalty for food contamination to 15 years in prison.

    Sky News Australia @SkyNewsAust

    .@ScottMorrisonMP on strawberry tampering crisis: We will be increasing the penalties for those who will be found guilty under the existing provisions from 10 years to 15 years in prison. MORE: https://t.co/xJEP5oJ5yE #newsday https://t.co/oj9sYbHVJO

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    "What we will be doing is...increasing the penalties for those who would be found guilty under the existing provisions from 10 years in prison to 15 years in prison," prime minister Scott Morrison told a press conference at Parliament House today.

    "Someone who has an offence for forgery or theft of Commonwealth property, they currently get 10 years."

    "What you get 15 years for is things like possessing child pornography and financing terrorism. That's how seriously our government takes it."

    Here are some crimes that have lower penalties than that.

    1. Administering poison

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    Administering poison gets you up to seven years in Queensland. That goes up to 14 if the poison endangers the victim's life or results in grievous bodily harm.

    2. Bigamy

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    In Victoria, someone who gets married when they're already married can go to prison for up to five years.

    3. Indecent assault

    Anyone in NSW who assaults someone while also committing "an act of indecency" risks five years in prison. For aggravated indecent assault, the maximum penalty is seven years.

    4. Organ trafficking

    Organising a person's entry into Australia where you are reckless as to whether it will result in the removal of one of their organs without their consent, is against the Commonwealth Criminal Code. The maximum penalty is 12 years if the person trafficked is an adult, which can be increased if the person is a child.

    5. Abduction or detention with a sexual purpose

    Section 47 of the Victorian Crimes Act prohibits abducting or detaining another person for the purpose of sex or marriage. If you do this, you could go to jail for 10 years.

    6. Torture

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    Section 320A of Queensland's Criminal Code forbids torture — the "intentional infliction of severe pain or suffering on a person". Maximum penalty: 14 years. (If the Commonwealth charges you, though, it could be up to 20 years.)

    7. Drink spiking

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    Giving someone a spiked drink where you're trying to cause the other person to be "stupefied or overpowered" is punishable by up to five years in prison in Queensland.

    8. Sex with a 15-year-old

    Sexual intercourse with a child aged 14 to 16 is a crime in NSW that can get you 10 years in prison, or up to 12 if there are "circumstances of aggravation" – such as when the victim has a serious physical disability.

    9. Breaking, entering and stealing

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    This will get you up to 14 years in NSW.

    10. Bomb hoax

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    If you're responsible for a bomb hoax in Queensland you face a maximum penalty of seven years in prison.

    11. Grooming children

    If a person does something in relation to a child under 16, intending to make it easier to procure the child to engage in sexual activity outside Australia, they could be charged under the Commonwealth Criminal Code and sent to prison for 12 years.

    12. Human trafficking

    The Commonwealth forbids you from organising the entry or exit of a person from Australia if there's an arrangement for that person to provide sexual services outside Australia, and you deceive that person about the nature of the sexual services, or how free they'll be to leave. That can lead to 12 years in prison.

    13. Insider trading

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    Under Australian law, insider trading can lead to up to 10 years in prison.

    14. Choking, suffocation or strangulation in a domestic setting

    If you do this to your partner without their consent in Queensland, you might go to prison for seven years.

    15. Putting a bomb in a public place

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    Under NSW law, a person who puts an explosive in a public place, a building or a vehicle, with the intention of causing bodily harm, can go to jail for 14 years.