When sentencing for Commonwealth offences under s 16A of the Crimes Act 1914 (Cth), sentencing judges must take into account the utilitarian value of a plea of guilty, and failure to do so constitutes error. Any discount for the utilitarian value of a plea should be specified as a precise percentage, not as a range. Specifying a range of percentage discounts (e.g., 'between 10% and 15%') constitutes sentencing error because it produces unacceptable uncertainty as to the starting point and the actual discount applied.
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