WA ends defence tactic that lets well-connected offenders escape tough sentences
Western Australia bans character references at sentencing to protect sexual violence victims from being hurt again and to stop wealthy offenders gaining unfair advantage.
Why it mattersRemoves an unfair advantage used mostly by wealthy offenders and reduces court trauma for sexual violence victims.
AustraliaWA joins NSW in banning character references for sex crimes; Queensland has limited their use, and Victoria and Tasmania are drafting similar laws.
Corroborated byabc.net.au
✓ Claims checked against the source and corrected before publish. checked 23 h ago
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