Queensland’s peak independent sentencing advisory body has released a new edition of its Queensland Sentencing Guide in a bid to break down barriers and help the community understand how the courts sentence adult offenders.
In a written statement yesterday, the Queensland Sentencing Advisory Council (QSAC) said it hoped the release of the publication would make it is easier for the community in general to understand and clarify how the sentencing process for adults worked.
QSAC is an independent government agency charged with explaining how the state’s courts operate, the different types of courts, how sentences are decided when a person has been found guilty of an offence, different penalty types (from absolute discharge and fines to imprisonment and other orders), information about parole and sentence appeals.
The council developed its first guide with input from legal and justice agencies including the Department of Justice and Attorney-General, Legal Aid Queensland, Queensland Corrective Services and Queensland Law Society in 2018.
The 2021 Queensland Sentencing Guide is available free of charge from the QSAC website.
QSAC has said it is also developing a companion publication to the guide on the sentencing of children and young people in Queensland.
It is expected to be released later this year.
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