00:02Victoria's Sentencing Advisory Council is really shining a spotlight on the sort of
00:07crimes that are often linked to family violence as it examines just how federal offences are
00:13dealt with by the courts here. And this report has found that by far the most common offence
00:18is using technology like mobile phones or the internet to intimidate victims. Things like
00:27sending offensive text messages with more than 6,700 charges laid in the past five years alone.
00:34So we're talking about crimes like a perpetrator repeatedly phoning or texting an ex-partner
00:41to abuse them. And most often these sorts of offences are simply dealt with by a fine. That's
00:49because they're frequently intertwined with state offences and charges that are laid to do with
00:56family violence. And they're the ones that often attract the harsher penalties, leaving
01:00judges and magistrates with very little options on how to sentence these federal offences.
01:06And it's this complexity, according to the director of the Victorian Sentencing Advisory Council,
01:12that leads to these huge variations in the sentencing between different states and territories.
01:17And he wants to see reforms to make these sentencing laws more simplified and that should increase
01:25consistency.
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