Arabic version: جنوب أستراليا تقترح حظر شهادات حسن السيرة

According to ABC News, the South Australian government is proposing to abolish the use of good character references during sentencing for all criminal offences in the state’s courts. The proposal follows a nationwide campaign calling for such references to be removed from court processes.

Current South Australian law allows offenders to tender evidence of good character or call friends, family members or employers to support arguments for leniency. Judges are already prevented from considering such evidence for child sex offenders when their apparent good character helped them commit an offence, but it can still be considered in other circumstances, including where an offender has no prior convictions.

Attorney-General Kyam Maher said consultation on the reforms would begin in the coming days. The government expects to introduce a bill to parliament in the first half of next year. He said a review of the laws was recommended by the Royal Commission into Domestic, Family and Sexual Violence, and that the change would bring South Australia into line with states including New South Wales and Western Australia.

Survivor advocate Harrison James, co-founder of the Your Reference Ain’t Relevant campaign, said hearing an offender described as “kind, generous and a good person” could be dehumanising for victim-survivors. He said offenders should not be able to use their reputation to minimise the consequences of violent offending.

A review of the campaign by the NSW Sentencing Council recommended abolishing good character references in sentencing for all offence types, rather than only child sex offences. It also recommended courts retain the ability to consider factors including an offender’s rehabilitation prospects, prior convictions and likelihood of reoffending. James said the campaign did not seek to remove relevant personal circumstances, but opposed subjective descriptions being used as a sentencing discount.