Victim-survivors of crime will be better protected following the passage of the Minns Labor Government\u2019s reforms abolishing \u2018good character\u2019 as a mitigating factor at sentencing for all offences.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Legislation abolishing \u2018good character\u2019 as a mitigating factor for all offences including homicide, domestic violence and road crimes passed the Legislative Council on Thursday night.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It ensures convicted offenders will no longer be able to argue their sentence should be mitigated because they are of otherwise \u2018good character\u2019.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
After the Government passed legislation preventing people convicted of sexual offences from relying on \u2018good character\u2019, this reform extends that protection to all offences.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The bill\u2019s passage follows the Liberals and Nationals abandoning their earlier opposition to the reforms.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
They earlier voted with the Greens to water down the reforms and retain \u2018good character\u2019 as a mitigating factor for all offences except sexual offences, with the court allowed discretion about whether to give it weight.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
This meant that convicted murderers, domestic abusers and dangerous drivers who kill people could still argue they should get a lesser sentence because of their \u2018good character\u2019.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But the Government refused to give up on this reform and reintroduced legislation to Parliament, prompting the Coalition to drop its opposition.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The reform was supported by a full public consultation and recommended by the independent Sentencing Council.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Government thanks Your Reference Ain\u2019t Relevant<\/em> cofounders Harrison James and Jarad Grice, the Homicide Victim Support Group\u2019s Martha Jabour and Road Trauma Support Group\u2019s Duncan Wakes-Miller for their tireless advocacy for this reform.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The Sentencing Council recommended \u2018good character\u2019 be removed as a mitigating factor for all offence, not just sexual offences, because it was vague, not equally available to all offenders and retraumatised victim-survivors.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Attorney General Michael Daley said:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThe passage of these laws spells the end of the mere \u2018good character\u2019 defence. Victim-survivors and their loved ones will no longer be forced to sit in court and hear the person convicted of a heinous crime be described as an otherwise good person.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWhile I\u2019m glad we\u2019re finally here, it should not have taken so long for the Liberals and Nationals to listen to victim-survivors and their advocates and drop their opposition to these reforms.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI am grateful to Harrison James and Jarad Grice from Your Reference Ain\u2019t Relevant<\/em>, and the Homicide Victim Support Group and Road Trauma Support Group, for their tireless advocacy to create a fairer, less traumatising justice system.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Your Reference Ain\u2019t Relevant Cofounder Harrison James said:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cAlmost four years ago I chose to speak publicly as a survivor of child sexual abuse. Today, that decision has produced nation-leading reform. This win belongs to every survivor in this country.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThese reforms mean no survivor in NSW will have to sit in a courtroom and hear their abuser praised as a good person. That is hard-won dignity. But I’m not done. Every survivor in every corner of this country deserves the same protection, and I will fight until every jurisdiction reflects that. NSW was first. The rest will follow.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n Homicide Victims\u2019 Support Group CEO Martha Jabour said:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cCrimes which involve the taking of another person\u2019s life are the most heinous. The trauma for victim-survivors is multi-generational and far reaching.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWe are grateful that the family members of homicide victims can now be spared the further anguish of being forced to listen to associates expound the good character of the individual who has been convicted of that crime.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThis reform sends a clear message that the voices, dignity and ongoing trauma of victim-survivors must never be mitigated or overshadowed. We thank the Minns Government for their commitment to this reform and, most importantly, their commitment to victims.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Road Trauma Support Group Deputy Chair Duncan-Wakes Miller said:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThis reform ends the practice of serious offenders using \u2018good character\u2019 references to soften the consequences of road deaths caused by criminal acts. There are moments in public life where politics can deepen division. Then there are moments where leadership rises above it. This is one of them.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n downloadDownload as PDF<\/a>printPrint this page<\/a>share<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Victim-survivors of crime will be better protected following the passage of the Minns Labor Government\u2019s reforms abolishing \u2018good character\u2019 as a mitigating factor at sentencing for all offences. Legislation abolishing \u2018good character\u2019 as a mitigating factor for all offences including homicide, domestic violence and road crimes passed the Legislative Council on Thursday night. It ensures … Continue reading “Nation-leading \u2018good character\u2019 reforms pass NSW Parliament”<\/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":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-39343","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-nswnews"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/39343","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=39343"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/39343\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":39344,"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/39343\/revisions\/39344"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=39343"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=39343"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=39343"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}