One table shows the statistical measures of penalties by charge, and a figure presents penalty comparisons for theft, burglary, and robbery. Other figures provide data on average drug penalty comparisons, a drug offenses summary, assault, intentionally/recklessly causing injury, careless driving, the number of persons sentenced and number of offenses addressed, and type of penalty imposed. A table on suspended sentences is in two parts; one deals with the original term by the portion of the sentence suspended, and the other addresses the operational period by the portion of the original term suspended. Another table presents the penalties imposed on persons sentenced based on principal offenses, followed by a table on the disposition of offenses and type of penalty imposed for each charged offense. A table presents the number of persons sentenced under the Australian National Classification of Offenses (ANCO) offense groups by gender and age group. The final table lists the number and percentage of the 100 most common offenses that came before Victorian magistrates' courts in 1996. Appended index, selected Victorian legislation and regulations, codes for Commonwealth legislation and regulations, and regulation names and codes on Courtlink (database)