A wholly suspended sentence for serious CEM offences remains available in rare cases where the offender's personal circumstances are sufficiently compelling and unusual, such as where the offender is an unaccompanied child refugee with unaddressed PTSD whose rehabilitation prospects are better served in the community. The availability of rehabilitation programs only outside custody is a relevant factor. However, this does not lessen the established sentencing standards requiring immediate custodial sentences in the ordinary case.
The full text is available to signed-in members.