Christian Porter announced details of the legislation last week, saying 28% of child sex offenders convicted of federal offences in 2018-19 served no jail time.
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Moderate Liberal Russell Broadbent, says mandatory sentencing interferes with separation of powers, and removes the option for judges to take particular circumstances of cases into account.
Henderson beat Greg Mirabella 234 to 197 after other runners were eliminated.
Mick Tsikas/AAP
After losing her marginal seat of Corangamite at the election, Sarah Henderson is set to return to parliament after winning preselection for a Victorian Senate vacancy.
Successive reviews and inquiries have revealed that mandatory sentences fail to achieve their stated aims.
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At a time when many Australian jurisdictions are imprisoning more people than ever, any policies that increase prisoner numbers must be seriously reconsidered.
People with cognitive and psychiatric impairments are over-represented in the prison system.
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Should those convicted of domestic violence be punished differently? A professor from the University of Maryland thinks harsher policies may make the problem worse.
The Law Council of Australia has called for the end of mandatory sentencing, so is it time to put a stop to this ineffective and disproportionate system?
Dean Lewis/AAP
As the Law Council of Australia calls for the end of mandatory sentencing, it might be time for the Australian government to evaluate and resolve the troubles of this problematic system.
Indigenous prisoners perform a welcome ceremony at the 2014 opening of Darwin’s $500 million prison, which is likely to be full by 2018.
AAP/Neda Vanovac
The Northern Territory stands out for having one of the highest imprisonment rates in the world - much higher even than in the US - and it’s hard to argue that this does the community much good.
Proportionality in sentencing cannot be achieved through mandatory sentences created as a result of an overreaction to community fear and outrage.
AAP/Dave Hunt
The Victorian government’s introduction of the Sentencing Amendment (Coward’s Punch Manslaughter and Other Matters) Bill 2014 this week has again sparked debate about the deterrence value and general utility…