Survivor of child abuse describes ‘devastating’ issue with ‘good character’ references in bid to have them scrapped in NSW

A survivor of child sexual abuse has detailed how “devastating” it is to hear rapists described as “good fellas” as he pushes to scrap a controversial sentencing tool from NSW courts. The NSW government is due to scrap “good character” references, meaning convicted offenders will no longer be able to rely on evidence of their “good character” during sentencing. Child sexual offenders are already barred from relying on “good character” if those factors helped them commit the offence. The major announcement follows recommendations by the NSW Sentencing Council and a campaign by Your Reference Ain’t Relevant co-founders Harrison James and Jarad Grice, who are both survivors of child sexual abuse. Mr James on Tuesday told a parliamentary inquiry into the proposed Bill how “devastating” it is to have rapists described as “a good fella” in good character references. “Imagine being a victim-survivor who’s experienced sexual abuse…and you have to hear the person that raped you is a ‘good fella’,” Mr James said. “It’s absolutely devastating to sit there in that courtroom and hear that. That is all I’m concerned of, getting rid of that so victim-survivors don’t feel gaslit in the sentencing process.” Fears DV victims could suffer from law change Public defender Alexander Terracini flagged concerns during the hearing that domestic violence victims could be denied an opportunity to defend themselves if the references are scrapped. “For example if there was a vulnerable domestic violence-related female that had been part of an appalling marriage … and after 20 years of otherwise crime-free life she had snapped and done something criminally wrong, this Bill, if passed, would deny her the opportunity firstly to defend herself properly,” Mr Terracini said. NSW Attorney-General Michael Daley emphasised that evidence of an accused’s good character would still be permissible during trials. “Our reforms would prevent the admission of good character references only for people who have already been found guilty of crimes and who are being sentenced,” Mr Daley said in a statement to NewsWire following Tuesday’s inquiry. Mr James similarly said no one was suggesting good character evidence be removed from trials, noting it is an important factor in establishing evidence prior to convictions. He said: “We’re only advocating to remove the arbitrary and irrelevant notion of good character in sentencing post conviction. “And it’s also important to note written references can still be given to the court in that sense, they just can’t attest to their good character.” He also argued other factors, including prospects of rehabilitation and remorse, could be used instead of character references in complex DV cases while responding to a hypothetical scenario about a grandmother charged with DV even though she had been protecting her family from abuse. “Good character is entirely subjective, the role of sentencing is to look at the objective factors as to how this offender should be sentenced. (The references are) only happening at sentencing ... post-conviction,” Mr James said. Domestic Violence NSW acting deputy chief executive officer Rhiannon Cook was supportive of removing the references for child sexual abuse and adult sexual offences, but agreed it would be “premature” to pass the legislation in its current form over concerns about how it may affect women who are misidentified as perpetrators of DV. Bill could spark ‘minefield’ of appeals Public defender Scott Fraser SC also raised concerns that the Bill could pave the way for “a minefield of potential appeal avenues” if mistakes were made and relevant was not handed up to the court, or if irrelevant evidence was considered improperly. References could still be handed to the court, but they would no longer be used in the generic context of “I’ve known him for 30 years, he’s a nice bloke”, the inquiry was told. Instead, they would need to be confined to the circumstances of the offence, with Mr Terracini giving an example of the behavioural patterns of a rugby player who had got into a pub fight but otherwise avoided violence while playing sport. Both Mr Fraser and Mr Terracini also acknowledged that victims of crime could be re-traumatised by good character references but said the focus should be on education and explaining the sentencing process to victims outside the courtroom ahead of time instead of scrapping the references altogether. The committee will report back to the council after Tuesday’s hearing by April 14. news.com.au mental health helplines