The judicial discretion of mercy, exercised in its 'true' sense as a residual discretion permitting a downward departure from proportionality outside the principles of mitigation, may justify a very lenient sentence even for extremely serious offending where exceptional circumstances exist. Where an Indigenous offender's profoundly disadvantaged background is shown to have a nexus with the offending, both moral culpability and general deterrence may be substantially moderated, applying Bugmy and Munda. However, the Court expressly stated that this exceptional case should not be expected to play any part in the analysis of current sentencing practices for the relevant offences.
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