Sentencing reforms introduced into NSW Courts in 2018 have not reduced the instances of offenders reoffending according to the NSW Bureau of Crime Statistics and Research (BOCSAR).
Releasing its report Have the 2018 NSW sentencing reforms reduced the risk of re-offending? BOCSAR said the reforms had been adopted to give judges and magistrates access to new, more flexible community sentencing options.
BOCSAR said past research had indicated the reforms were successful in reducing short-term prison sentences and in increasing supervised community sentences issued by the courts.
“The latest evaluation considers whether the reforms also achieved their third aim, to reduce reoffending,” BOCSAR said.
“BOCSAR compared reoffending among 18,788 offenders sentenced in the Local Court immediately before the reforms were implemented with 18,153 offenders sentenced directly after,” it said.
“Although the reforms significantly increased the proportion of individuals sentenced to supervision in the community, the evaluation found no evidence that this was associated with a reduction in reoffending.”
BOCSAR said its study found no change in the rate of reoffending, the time to first new offence or the likelihood that an offender would enter custody within 12 months of being sentenced.
“These findings hold true for domestic violence offenders and offenders sentenced to short prison sentences or community-based custodial alternatives,” it said.
Executive Director of BOCSAR, Jackie Fitzgerald said the guiding principle behind the reform was the “considerable” body of evidence which showed that actively supervising offenders in the community could reduce reoffending.
“A possible reason why we did not find a reoffending benefit is that, at least initially, the reforms had only a small impact on the actual rate at which offenders were supervised in the community,” Ms Fitzgerald said.
“The Community Corrections practice of prioritising supervision for higher-risk offenders means that additional supervised orders issued to lower-risk offenders would not have resulted in active supervision by Corrections’ officers,” she said.
BOCSAR’s 26-page Report can be accessed at this PS News link.
