When sentencing for Commonwealth offences, contrition under s 16A(2)(f) of the Crimes Act 1914 (Cth) must be considered as a distinct factor from rehabilitation, and the sentencing judge must make a finding on it where it is raised. An offender's attempts to identify mitigating factors or contextualise their offending do not negate contrition; the most powerful evidence of contrition is the steps actually taken by the offender and their influence on others. The availability of aggregate sentencing for multiple Commonwealth offences via s 68 of the Judiciary Act picking up state provisions remains uncertain and may require reconsideration.
The full text is available to signed-in members, including the 20 later cases that cite this judgment.
9 of the 20 citing cases carry a classified treatment. How each court treated it is available to signed-in members.