The prospect of deportation may be taken into account as a mitigating factor in sentencing, but a sentencing judge must not increase the non-parole period to compensate for the absence of a supervised parole period in Australia. A non-parole period of 78% of the total effective sentence does not of itself indicate sentencing error. The context in which a sentencing judge refers to deportation is critical — where defence counsel has urged deportation as a mitigating factor, a judge's reference to being 'mindful' of deportation will ordinarily be understood as accepting that mitigatory submission.
The full text is available to signed-in members, including the 7 later cases that cite this judgment.