E-Petition

The Petition of residents of the State of Queensland draws to the attention of the House the urgent need to close a legislative loophole in the Penalties and Sentences Act 1992 (Qld) that continues to allow convicted sexual offenders to rely on “Good Character References” to mitigate sentencing. While the Penalties and Sentences (Sexual Offences) and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 2025 proposes partial reform, it fails to repeal all relevant provisions, leaving survivors exposed to retraumatisation and undermining public confidence in justice.

Specifically, section 9(2)(f) and section 9(6)(a) preserve outdated practices that compel courts to consider offender character, reputation, or professional standing, even when these factors are irrelevant or directly connected to the offending. Section 9(6)(h), the “anything else” clause, compounds this problem by providing a backdoor through which inadmissible or subjective references may still influence sentencing outcomes. Together, these provisions perpetuate inequity, allowing offenders with social capital to benefit from leniency unavailable to others.

Your petitioners, therefore, request the House to repeal s 9(2)(f) and s 9(6)(a), amend s 9(6)(h) to prohibit reliance on character references, and enforce the implementation of QSAC’s remaining 24 recommendations to ensure comprehensive, survivor centred reform of Queensland’s sentencing framework.