In the ACT, sentencing for sustained social security fraud should treat imprisonment as the 'starting point' rather than applying a rigid rule requiring exceptional circumstances before a non-custodial sentence can be imposed. General judicial statements about the appropriateness of custodial sentences for particular offence types do not constitute legal rules reversing the principle that imprisonment is a last resort. On Crown appeals against sentence, the appellate court will not intervene to increase a sentence where the prosecution failed to present its case on sentencing principles or challenge evidence before the sentencing court.
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