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Restrictive, ‘outdated’ sentencing practices to be removed from NSW courts
Under proposed changes to NSW court’s “outdated” sentencing practices, patterns, and restrictive time limits, offenders of sexual violence who have largely evaded effective and modern justice may face tougher penalties for their crimes.
Naomi Neilson
Following a review of historical sentencing practices, the NSW government is drafting a bill that will require courts to apply current sentencing practices regardless of when a crime took place. This will mean that courts will no longer be restricted to sentencing practices that were in place when the crime was committed.
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State Attorney-General Mark Speakman said these restrictive sentencing practices no longer reflect the government’s current stance on crimes. This is particularly so for crimes related to sexual assault or domestic violence, which the government has committed to extensively reforming for victim-survivors and the justice system.
“Asking courts to put themselves in the shoes of a judge years or decades earlier can be impractical, inefficient and produce inconsistent outcomes. Our bill will change this so people who committed offences years ago will be sentenced according to the current practices in place,” Mr Speakman said in his announcement.
Mr Speakman added that it is “unacceptable” that an offender will be given more lenient treatment by the justice system either because they have dodged police detection, are being sentenced for a crime committed years earlier, or because the offence has not yet been reported by the “often traumatised” victim-survivor.
The bill follows 2018 legislation that ensured child sex offenders are sentenced according to contemporary practices. The 2018 act came after the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse recommended legislation to ensure sentences are imposed according to modern practices.
“This applies consistency to all offending so we won’t perpetuate any past errors by using old practices, which don’t align with contemporary attitudes or our current understanding of serious crimes like sexual assault and domestic violence,” Mr Speakman said.
