Victoria Proposing to Delay Immediate Prison Terms for Pregnant Offenders

Being pregnant, ill, young or Aboriginal are among the additional reasons judges in Victoria may be able to delay sentencing offenders to immediate imprisonment

An Australian flag flies at the Supreme Court of Victoria in Melbourne, Australia, on Oct. 27, 2023. Melanie Sun/Susan Mortimer/The Epoch Times

Victoria’s Sentencing Advisory Council has proposed expanding the reasons a judge can delay sentencing an offender to an immediate term of imprisonment to include a much wider array of reasons.

At present, courts can impose a pause of up to 12 months to allow people convicted of a crime to focus on rehabilitation, but the Council believes it’s time to also consider the impact on prisoners’ families, victims and the community.