The Minns Labor Government will not accept the Opposition\u2019s attempts to water down nation-leading reforms to remove \u2018good character\u2019 as a mitigating factor at sentencing. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Opposition\u2019s amendments lodged today would gut the bill and mean victim-survivors would still have to sit through the trauma of hearing their perpetrator described as a \u2018good person\u2019 in court.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The amendments would have the effect of removing good character for sexual offences. But they would otherwise retain \u2018good character\u2019 as a mitigating factor at sentencing and allow the court discretion as to whether they give this weight.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
This means a court would still be able to find someone is of otherwise \u2018good character\u2019 despite them being convicted of offending that involves antisemitism like inciting racial hatred, domestic and family violence homicide or dangerous driving causing death.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Our nation-leading reforms announced earlier this year are designed to ensure offenders convicted of serious crimes cannot rely on character references to mitigate their sentence.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The legislation forms part of the Minns Labor Government\u2019s broader agenda to strengthen protections for victim-survivors of domestic and family violence and improve the integrity and consistency of sentencing outcomes across NSW.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Advocates, including road trauma victims and domestic violence survivors, have been calling for these changes for years, arguing the current system allows offenders to benefit from personal testimonials that are often irrelevant to the harm caused.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
This NSW Sentencing Council made its position clear about this approach. They said giving courts this discretion would still leave good character operating as a mitigating factor and would not address many of the concerns raised in this review.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Attorney General Michael Daley said:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThe Opposition\u2019s attempt to gut the Minns Labor Government\u2019s nation-leading reforms to \u2018good character\u2019 evidence at sentencing is disgraceful and insulting to victims.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThey want serious criminals involved in organised crime, domestic violence and murder to have their sentences mitigated because the Opposition says they are of \u2018good character\u2019.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWe will not be accepting the Opposition\u2019s attempts to water down these vital reforms.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThe question for the Legislative Council is simple, whose side are they on? Are they on the side of victims, or are they on the side of perpetrators?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Minister for Women and the Prevention of Domestic Violence and Sexual Assault Jodie Harrison<\/strong>said:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThese reforms recognise the lived experience of victim-survivors and ensure the justice system does not compound their trauma.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cGood character references have too often been used to minimise or excuse serious violence, particularly in domestic and family violence cases.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cNo victim should have to sit in a courtroom and hear the person who harmed them described as \u2018a good person\u2019 or \u2018of strong character\u2019.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWe will not support any changes that weaken these protections or take us backwards.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThis is about respect for victim-survivors and making sure the system reflects the seriousness of these crimes.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Your Reference Ain\u2019t Relevant Cofounder Harrison James said: <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cNo survivor should have to sit in court and hear the person who harmed them praised for their so-called \u2018good character\u2019 after conviction. That should not be controversial. <\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cTo then see a watered-down version of this bill put forward as an alternative is deeply disappointing and genuinely disturbing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI have reached out to a number of members of the Coalition in good faith because I wanted to have a genuine discussion and offer the perspective of a victim-survivor who has fought for this reform for three and a half years. I have been met with silence.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cFor victim-survivors like me, this feels like a slap in the face. We have carried this issue, spoken about our pain publicly, relived some of the worst moments of our lives, and pushed for change because we believed Parliament would listen.\u201d <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" The Minns Labor Government will not accept the Opposition\u2019s attempts to water down nation-leading reforms to remove \u2018good character\u2019 as a mitigating factor at sentencing. The Opposition\u2019s amendments lodged today would gut the bill and mean victim-survivors would still have to sit through the trauma of hearing their perpetrator described as a \u2018good person\u2019 in court. The amendments would have the … Continue reading “Minns Labor Government rejects Opposition bid to gut \u2018good character\u2019 reforms”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-38768","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-aussie"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/38768","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=38768"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/38768\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":38769,"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/38768\/revisions\/38769"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=38768"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=38768"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=38768"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}