The Minns Labor Government will legislate to stop convicted offenders relying on evidence of their ‘good character’ in sentencing proceedings.

In a recent Newcastle trial, a jury found three men guilty on multiple charges of sexually assaulting three teenage girls over two nights. The victims provided harrowing evidence of the violence ...

Convicted criminals won’t be able to use references from family and friends to get more lenient sentences in NSW, but more widespread change could be hard.

The use of character references in sexual crime cases should be reformed urgently, campaigners have told BBC News NI. Haileigh Ashton Lamont, a victim of sexual abuse who now works with survivors, ...

The use of character references in sexual crime cases should be reformed urgently, campaigners have told BBC News NI.

Child sexual abuse survivors want to ban the use of good character references for convicted sex offenders in Queensland. In court, people who know the offender can write letters about their good ...

The ‘good bloke’ defence debate shifted from rapists to drug traffickers in a Qld supreme courtroom after a lawyer was roasted when they tendered a letter ‘waxing lyrical’ about their client. During ...