The Herald Sun is again raising the issue of suspended sentences in Victoria – negatively highlighting that these sentences are ‘on the rise’. The Director of JIM wrote a published letter (country edition) to the Herald Sun about this, which we include for JustAct supporters,

There is concern related to sentencing in Victoria (‘Suspended sentences rise in Victoria’ – Mar 22). Suspended sentences are prison terms which are suspended wholly or in part for a specified time, subject to conditions of good behaviour (i.e. not reoffend). Suspended sentences are not given for serious crimes unless there are exceptional circumstances. Rob Hulls says that this framework will be further tightened.  Do suspended sentences result in higher rates of reoffending? If we are concerned with rehabilitation of offenders, and less harm in the community, then this is an important question. Recent research from NSW has found that there is no evidence that full-time imprisonment exerts a greater deterrent effect than a suspended sentence of imprisonment. For offenders with no prior prison sentence there was no real difference in reoffending. Among offenders who had previously been to prison, those who receive a prison sentence reoffend substantially quicker than those who receive a suspended sentence. Prison should be a last resort. - Mark Zirnsak