The survey used a scientifically designed multi-stage probability sample to ensure that all Federal electorates were represented in the sampling frame. The participants were 2,555 Australians ages 14 years and older. They ranked offenses that included a residential burglary, child abuse, drug smuggling, a physician's cheating on a health insurance claim to the government, shoplifting of $5 worth of items, murder, armed robbery, and a serious workplace injury resulting from the employer's lack of safety precautions. They compared each offense to the stealing of a bicycle parked on the street. They considered the murder to be the most serious and to be 27 times more serious than the bicycle theft. They rated heroin smuggling as the second most serious and 23 times more serious than the bicycle theft. The two offenses given the lowest ratings were shoplifting and residential burglary, which were rated as three times more serious than the bicycle theft. A surprising finding was that homosexual relations between two adult males in private was regarded as more serious than the bicycle theft, shoplifting, or burglary, although many States do not consider it to be criminal. The suggested sentences generally reflected the seriousness with which parliament and the courts regard particular crime. However, notable offenses were the occupational offenses of pollution and occupational negligence. In addition, the majority regarded community-based treatment as appropriate punishment for domestic assault, although it was regarded as a relatively serious offense. Figures and notes