Victoria Proposing to Delay Immediate Prison Terms for Pregnant Offenders

Victoria’s Sentencing Advisory Council has proposed expanding the reasons a judge can delay sentencing an offender to an immediate term of imprisonment to include a much wider array of reasons. At present, courts can impose a pause of up to 12 months to allow people convicted of a crime to focus on rehabilitation, but the Council believes it’s time to also consider the impact on prisoners’ families, victims and the community. Currently, five purposes exist under the Sentencing Act; four are directly focused on rehabilitation. Its latest report, Reforming Sentence Deferrals in Victoria makes 10 recommendations to change the way courts decide whether to defer imposing a custodial sentence....