When sentencing under the ACT Periodic Detention Act 1995, the court must first determine the appropriate sentence without regard to periodic detention; only if imprisonment of 3-24 months is warranted does the periodic detention discretion arise. Periodic detention is not an 'other available penalty' under s 345 of the Crimes Act but a custodial disposition requiring positive justification. The statutory requirement under s 342(1)(j) to consider the effect of a sentence on the offender's family or dependants is not limited to exceptional cases, notwithstanding the common law position. An appellate court must identify error in the sentencing discretion and not merely substitute its own view.
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