The Sentencing Advisory Council of Victoria is an independent

statutory body A statutory body or statutory authority is a body set up by law (statute) that is authorised to implement certain legislation on behalf of the relevant country or state, sometimes by being Primary and secondary legislation, empowered or deleg ...

that was established by the

Victorian Government The Victoria State Government, also referred to as the Victorian Government, is the executive government of the Australian state of Victoria. As a parliamentary constitutional monarchy, the State Government was first formed in 1851 when Vic ...

in 2004 to conduct research on sentencing in

Victoria, Australia Victoria, commonly abbreviated as Vic, is a state in southeastern Australia. It is the second-smallest state (after Tasmania), with a land area of ; the second-most-populated state (after New South Wales), with a population of over 7 million; ...

. The Council comprises a board of between 11 and 14 directors, who are supported by a secretary. In Australia, there are also sentencing councils in

New South Wales New South Wales (commonly abbreviated as NSW) is a States and territories of Australia, state on the Eastern states of Australia, east coast of :Australia. It borders Queensland to the north, Victoria (state), Victoria to the south, and South ...

Queensland Queensland ( , commonly abbreviated as Qld) is a States and territories of Australia, state in northeastern Australia, and is the second-largest and third-most populous state in Australia. It is bordered by the Northern Territory, South Austr ...

and

Tasmania Tasmania (; palawa kani: ''Lutruwita'') is an island States and territories of Australia, state of Australia. It is located to the south of the Mainland Australia, Australian mainland, and is separated from it by the Bass Strait. The sta ...

. There are also sentencing councils in some overseas jurisdictions, such as in England and Wales and

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History

In 2000, the Victorian Government requested a review of aspects of Victoria's sentencing laws, which was undertaken by Professor Arie Frieberg. The 2002 report arising out of that review, ''Pathways to Justice'', recommended a number of changes to Victoria's sentencing system, including the establishment of a Victorian Sentencing Advisory Council. That legislation was passed in 2003, and the Council formally came into operation in 2004. Professor Frieberg was the inaugural Chair of the Council from 2004 to his retirement in 2022 and was also the Chair of the Tasmanian Sentencing Advisory Council until 2021.

Directors

The legislation establishing the Council outlines a number of specific qualifications to be nominated by the

Attorney-General of Victoria The Attorney-General of Victoria, in formal contexts also Attorney-General or Attorney General for Victoria,See, e.g., ''Bullivant v Attorney-General for Victoria''

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AC 196; ''Ryan v Attorney General for Victoria''

967 Year 967 ( CMLXVII) was a common year starting on Tuesday of the Julian calendar. Events By place Europe * Spring – Emperor Otto I (the Great) calls for a council at Rome, to present the new government under Pope John XIII. He ...

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and then appointed by the

Governor of Victoria The governor of Victoria is the representative of Monarchy of Australia, the monarch, currently King Charles III, in the Australian state of Victoria (state), Victoria. The governor is appointed by the monarch on the advice of the premier of V ...

. Some of the qualifications include the need for a person to be considered a highly experienced prosecution and defence lawyer with other criminal justice experience.‘About Us’
Victorian Sentencing Advisory Council.

References from the Attorney-General

Over the years, Victoria’s Attorney-General has given the Council terms of reference seeking its advice on a range of topics, such as the sentencing of family violence offenders, reforms to restitution and compensation orders and the introduction of a sentencing guidelines council. The Council’s responses to terms of reference have resulted in changes to maximum penalties for offences and breaches of intervention orders; the abolition of suspended sentences, the introduction of a sentence indication scheme and the addition of hatred and prejudice as a factor in sentencing.

Community education

The Council hosts an online interactive sentencing simulation known as ‘Virtual You be the Judge’, presenting face-to-face community education sessions for adults, developing and publishing teaching materials and lesson plans, and developing and publishing plain-language guides to sentencing law and practice.Sentencing Advisory Council,
A Quick Guide to Sentencing
' (5th edition, 2021).

References

{{Improve categories, date=October 2023 Government agencies of Victoria (state)