Sentencing review 2015-2016

The first part of this review considers the evolution and recent activities of sentencing councils across Australia. There are established and active councils in New South Wales (NSW), Tasmania and, especially, Victoria, while the South Australian council is less active. The existence of the Queensland Council has been somewhat at the whim of the government of the day. The only jurisdictions without sentencing councils are the Australian Capital Territory (ACT), Northern Territory (NT) and Western Australia. The second part of this review focuses on another form of institutional response, namely Royal Commissions. There are currently two Royal Commissions appointed by the Australian Government, both of which relate to the criminal justice system and have particular implications for sentencing. The second part of this review examines the relevant work to date of the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse, which was established in 2013, and the Royal Commission into the Child Protection and Youth Detention Systems of the Government of the Northern Territory, which commenced in August 2016 and held its first hearings in October 2016. This part also summarises the relevant sections of the report of the Victorian Royal Commission into Family Violence, which was established in February 2015 and completed its inquiry in March 2016.