00:02In what's been heralded as a major win for victim survivors, good character references
00:07will no longer be permitted to be heard during the sentencing of people convicted of sexual offences.
00:14A good character reference is often heard here in New South Wales during sentencing of a person
00:18convicted of a crime before they learned their fate.
00:21The reference is intended to be evidence of, as the name suggests, a person's good character,
00:26which, if relevant, is taken into account by the judge along with other factors in determining the sentence.
00:32A good character reference is, of course, considered a mitigating factor.
00:36But, as of last night, they've been thrown out as an option in cases where a person has been convicted
00:42of a sexual offence.
00:43For many survivors, they say this is an enormous step forward.
00:48Now, advocates of this reform have said it's deeply re-traumatising to sit in a sentencing hearing
00:55with someone who has been convicted of a sexual offence against a victim
00:59to hear from supporters of that person of how good their character is.
01:04They say it's unnecessary and deeply unsettling.
01:07Now, this was a project of Chris Minns, the New South Wales Premier,
01:11who was pushing for these reforms to apply to not just sexual offences,
01:16but all offences, saying good character references don't have a place in the New South Wales justice system.
01:22Now, those reforms were scaled back.
01:25The ones that were passed through Parliament just last night only apply to sexual offences.
01:29It's important to note that these sweeping changes have had some pushback from the legal community,
01:35who say that it's important that a judge is able to assess a person convicted of a crime holistically.
01:41They say that character references are, at some times, an incredibly important part of the judicial process.
01:48Let's look at this.
01:48Let's go.
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