Under the Victorian standard sentence scheme, sentencing judges must treat the standard sentence as a legislative guidepost alongside the maximum penalty, but must continue to assess offence seriousness in the conventional way taking into account both objective gravity and moral culpability. The 'objective factors' definition in s 5A(3) constrains only the identification of the hypothetical mid-range offence and does not govern the assessment of the subject offence. The requirement in s 5B(5) to explain how the sentence 'relates to' the standard sentence does not require classification of the offence on a scale of seriousness referable to the mid-range offence. The standard sentence scheme may result in sentences higher than pre-existing sentencing practice, and pre-scheme sentencing levels are not a benchmark for manifest excess.
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