Tough,Tougher,Toughest?

‘Reality will test tough-on-crime talk’, The Age (online), 30 November 2010.

See, eg, Smith Greg , ‘Hard line fine for dangerous criminals, but what about the rest?’ (2010) NSW Bar News 8.

Research shows that actual public perceptions differ: when provided with similar sentencing information given to judges, on average, members of the public would give a similar sentence to that given out by a judge: see, eg, Lovegrove Austin , ‘Public Opinion, Sentencing and Lenience: An Empirical Study Involving Judges Consulting the Community’ (2007) Criminal Law Review 769; Warner Kate , ‘Public judgement of sentencing: Final results from the Tasmanian Jury Sentencing Study’: Trends & issues No 407 (AIC, 2011).

Sentencing Act 1991 (Vic) s 5(1).

See, eg, R v Dixon (1975) 22 ACTR 13, 17–8.

R v Williscroft [1975] VR 292, 300; R v Molina (1984) 2 FCR 508; see also Fox Richard and Freiberg Arie , Sentencing: State and Federal Law in Victoria (OUP, 2nd ed, 1999) [3.401].

Fox and Freiberg, above n 6, citing R v Cuthbert (1967) 86 WN (Pt I) (NSW) 272, 274 ( Herron CJ ).

Ryan v R (2001) 206 CLR 267, [118].

Veen v The Queen (No 2) (1988) 164 CLR 465, 472 ( Mason CJ Brennan Dawson and Toohey JJ ).

Ibid 473. See also Sentencing Act 1991 (Vic) ss 1(d)(iv) and 5; compare s 6D(b).

Fox and Freiberg, above n 6, [3.401].

R v Geddes (1936) 36 SR (NSW) 554, 555 ( Jordan CJ ); see also R v Williscroft [1975] VR 292–301 ( Adam and Crockett JJ ); R v Treloar and Butler (1989) 43 A Crim R 75; WCB v R [2010] VSCA 230, [34]–[35] ( Warren CJ and Redlich JA ).

WCB v R [2010] VSCA 230, [37] ( Warren CJ and Redlich JA ); See also Inkson v R (1996) 6 Tas R 116, 16 ( Underwood J ).

Department of Justice (Vic), Perceptions of Justice Survey Results 2008 (with 2007 comparisons), http://s3.amazonaws.com/zanran_storage/www.justice.vic.gov.au/ContentPages/888160119.pdf.

Gelb Karen , Myths and Misconceptions: Public Opinion versus Public Judgment about Sentencing (SAC, 2006) 11. In the US, a higher proportion of respondents think sentences are too lenient (up to 85%), while recent results in Canada are lower (60–70%). See also Roberts Lynne & Indermaur David , What Australians think about crime and justice: Results from the 2007 Survey of Social Attitudes (AIC, 2009).

Gelb , above n 15, 15.

Gelb Karen , More Myths and Misconceptions (SAC, 2008), 5.

See Gelb , above n 17, v; Gelb , above n 15, 5.

See Gelb , above n 17, 5.

See, eg, Warner , above n 3; Wood Jane & Viki G. Tendayi , ‘Public perceptions of crime and punishment’ in Adler Joanna R. (ed), Forensic Psychology: Concepts, Debates and Practice (Willan, 2004).

Roberts Julian , ‘Public Opinion and Sentencing Policy’ in Rex Sue & Tonry Michael H. (eds), Reform and Punishment: The Future of Sentencing (Willan, 2002), 25–26.

Melbourne Centre for Criminological Research and Evaluation, Home Detention in Victoria Final Evaluation Report (2006), 77.

See, eg, Mickelburough Peter , ‘Leafy Suburbs Home of Crime’, Herald-Sun (online), 15 February 2010; Donnelly K. , ‘So, where is the justice?’, Herald-Sun (online), 15 January 2010; Healey Kelvin , ‘Parole Board Sends Prisoners Packing in Droves’, Herald-Sun (online), 24 August 2009; Murphy Padraic , ‘Assaults Head Surge in Melbourne Crime Mayhem’, Herald-Sun (online), 10 August 2009.

Sentencing Legislation Amendment (Abolition of Home Detention) Act 2011.

See Smart Justice Fact Sheet, Suspended Sentences (February 2011) www.smartjustice.org.au.

Sentencing Amendment Act 2010.

Australian Bureau of Statistics (‘ABS’), ‘Imprisonment Rates' 4512.0 (Dec 2007), 13.

ABS, ‘Imprisonment Rates’ 4512.0, (Dec 2009), 13.

ABS, ‘Imprisonment Rates’ 4512.0, (2011), 13. See further Freiberg Arie and Ross Stuart , Sentencing Reform and Penal Change: The Victorian Experience (Federation Press, 1999).

Sentencing Further Amendment Act 2011.

See further Victoria, Parliamentary Debates, Legislative Assembly, 15 September 2011, 3291 (Hon Robert Clark MLA).

The Hon Robert Clark MP, Shadow Attorney-General, Coalition to set minimum sentence standards for serious crime (Media Release, 28 September 2010).

SAC (Victoria) Baseline Sentencing Report (2012).

The Hon Robert Clark MP, Attorney-General, Victorian Coalition Government welcomes Sentencing Advisory Council's report on baseline sentencing (Media Release, 3 May 2012).

Productivity Commission, Report on Government Services 2009 (SCRGSP, 2010); Payne Jason , Recidivism in Australia (AIC, 2007).

Ibid. See further SAC, Sentencing Statistics (1 November 2012), http://sentencingcouncil.vic.gov.au/landing/about-sentencing/sentencing-statistics.

Weatherburn Don , ‘The effect of prison on adult re-offending’ Crime and Justice Bulletin No 143 (NSW Bureau of Crime Statistics & Research, August 2010).

See, eg, Law Institute of Victoria, Baseline Sentences (3 November 2011) www.liv.asn.au.

SAC, Statutory Minimum Sentences for Gross Violence Offences Report (2011).

Ibid.

The Hon Robert Clark MP, Attorney-General, Vic Govt welcomes Sentencing Advisory Council report on gross violence offences (Media Release, 10 November 2011).

Department of Justice, Practical Lessons, Fair Consequences: Improving diversion for young people in Victoria (2012).

Sentencing Amendment (Community Correction Reform) Bill 2011.

Nationals, Vic Coalition to act on bail abuses (Media Release, 5 July 2010).

Nationals, Vic Coalition to track sex offenders, arsonists with GPS technology (Media Release, 18 October 2010).

SAC (Victoria) Review of Victoria's Adult Parole System report (2012).

See ‘Computer failure let parole violators commit murder: Report’, The Age (online), 19 April 2011; Wilkinson Geoff , ‘Victoria Police IT failure lets parole violators commit murder’ Herald-Sun (online), 19 April 2011.

See http://myviews.justice.vic.gov.au.

See ‘Baillieu rejects one-man law for mass murderer Julian Knight’, The Australian (online), 29 July 2011; ‘Baillieu weighs up mass-murderer's release’, The Age (online), 29 July 2011.

Lauder Simon , ‘Corrections bungle ends in tragedy’, The World Today (online), 20 June 2011.

See further Victoria, Parliamentary Debates, Legislative Assembly, 25 October 2011, 4838 (Jill Hennessy MLA).

Millar Royce , ‘Big holes in big lock-up scheme’, The Age (online), 11 June, 2011.

Rood David , ‘Coalition's jail, police, utilities spend-up’, The Age (online), 23 November 2010.

Department of Justice, Victoria, Annual Report, 2010–2011, (2011) 30.

Australian Bureau of Statistics, ‘Imprisonment Rates’ 4512.0, (2012), 13.

Biles David , ‘Two different states of justice’, Canberra Times (online), 28 August 2011.

Smith , above n 2, 9–10.

NSW Liberal/National response to Community Justice Coalition, 31 January 2011, 3, http://www.communityjusticecoalition.org/images/stories/pdf_files/liberal_response.pdf.

Ibid.

Patty Anna , ‘A way to get out of three jails’, Sydney Morning Herald (online), 7 September 2011; Shanahan Leo ‘Social services to go private’ The Australian (online), 7 September 2011.

See, eg, Cockram Judith Jackson Robert & Underwood Rod , ‘People with an intellectual disability and the criminal justice system’ (1998) 23(1) Journal of Intellectual & Developmental Disability; McAsey Bridget , ‘A critical evaluation of the Koori Court Division of the Victorian Magistrates' Court’ (2005) 10(2) Deakin Law Review 654; Forell Suzie McCarron Emily & Schetzer Louis , No home, no justice? (Law & Justice Foundation NSW, 2005).

See further Morgan Neil , ‘Accountability, transparency and justice?’ (1999) 28(2) University of WA LR 259; Ogletree Charles J Jr , ‘The Death of Discretion? Reflections on the Federal Sentencing Guidelines’ (1988) 101(8) Harvard LR 1938.

See further Frase Richard S , ‘State Sentencing Guidelines’ (2005) 105(4) Columbia LR 1190; Griffin Burt W & Katz Lewis R , ‘Sentencing Consistency’ (2002) 53(1) Case Western Reserve LR 1; Bowman Frank O , ‘The Failure of the Federal Sentencing Guidelines’ (2005) 105(4) Columbia LR 1315.

See the studies cited in Crime and Justice Reform Committee, Fact Sheet: Justice Reinvestment (2011) www.crimeandjustice.org.au.

For a full list of Smart Justice partners, see http://www.smartjustice.org.au/cb_pages/about_us.php.

For a profile of the Smart Justice project, see de Kretser Hugh & McDonnell Michelle , ‘A smarter criminal justice system: The role of community legal centres’ (2012) 37(1) Alternative Law Journal 6.

Productivity Commission, Report on Government Services (SCRGSP, 2010) C11–C12.