After a person has been convicted of an offence, evidence of their good character can be put forward during the sentencing process to support arguments that their sentence should be reduced. It is often delivered by way of character witness testimony from friends, family, or employers.

Currently in SA, judges are not permitted to consider an offender’s ‘good character’ when sentencing them for child sexual offences if their supposed ‘good character’ assisted them in the commission of the offence – for example that they were a trusted figure of authority in the community. Good character evidence can however be considered in sentencing where the offending was committed without the aid of the offender’s ‘good character’ or lack of prior convictions.

The ‘Your Reference Ain’t Relevant’ nation-wide campaign, co-founded by Harrison James and Jarad Grice, seeks to ban the use of good character evidence entirely for sentencing child sex offences, in recognition of how retraumatising such evidence can be for victims of child sexual abuse - no matter the circumstances in which the offending was committed.

The NSW Sentencing Council undertook a review of the ‘Your Reference Ain’t Relevant’ campaign’s proposal and recommended that good character evidence should be abolished in sentencing for all types of offences, not just child sex offences. The Sentencing Council also recommended that sentencing courts should retain the ability to consider factors such as the offender’s prospects of rehabilitation, prior convictions, and likelihood of reoffending.

Banning good character references in sentencing for all offences would bring South Australia in line with other Australian jurisdictions who have committed or are currently undertaking such reform.