The hardship caused to an offender's children by imprisonment may justify immediate parole where the circumstances are exceptional, including where the offender is an Aboriginal mother from a remote community breastfeeding an infant and imprisonment would require removal far from her children. The best interests of dependent children fall within s 9(2)(r) of the Penalties and Sentences Act 1992 (Qld) as a 'relevant circumstance', though they cannot be treated as a primary consideration. The court noted a strong argument for legislative reform to include this factor explicitly.
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