Victoria’s courts and left-wing Labor government are under fire over revelations magistrates are being trained how to sentence immigrant criminals so they won’t be deported.
A “professional development day” for magistrates court judicial officers held last week was described by attendees as “disturbing”, and used a hypothetical example of a Vietnamese student who had repeatedly sexually assaulted an eight-year-old, the Herald Sun reported.
The magistrates were advised to give the paedophile a sentence of 11 months and 15 days to avoid triggering federal deportation laws which require the cancellation of visas of non-citizen criminals who have been sentenced to a year or more in prison.
The sessions also included lectures on how to avoid imposing prison sentences for drug crimes.
The latest edition of the Judicial College of Victoria’s sentencing manual addresses automatic visa cancellation by noting that it is an “error for a sentencing court to artificially lower a sentence in order to avoid the consequences of the Migration Act”.
Shadow immigration minister Dan Tehan told Sky News that the revelations were “disturbing”, and demanded answers from Labor.
“The Federal and Victorian Labor Governments must explain if they endorse tailoring judicial sentences to allow criminals to avoid deportation,” Mr Tehan said.
“Australians expect that anyone found guilty of a crime is sentenced based on the evidence before the courts not to circumvent federal immigration laws.”
Victorian Premier Jacinta Allan said she had raised concerns with Attorney-General Jaclyn Symes but said it was a matter “independent of government”, but shadow attorney-general Michael O’Brien said her response was “not good enough”.
“If Victorian magistrates are deliberately going soft on drug traffickers and sexual assault perpetrators to save them from deportation, that shows you that the justice system in this state is fundamentally broken. People who commit serious crimes like drug trafficking and sexual assault should feel the full force of the law,” he said.
“A liberal government will review whether there should be any consideration given to deportation as a sentencing factor, because clearly, some magistrates seem to be using – and arguably abusing that proposition – to keep terrible criminals in Australia when really the law provides for them to be deported.”
In 2019 Victoria’s Sentencing Advisory Council looked at how deportation could be used justify lower sentences. Their report found that deportation may be treated as an additional form of punishment, may cause offenders anxiety, and may reduce prospects of offenders being granted parole.
Council Chair Professor Arie Freiberg, who was born in Israel before being allowed to move to Australia as a child, said at the time: “This review identifies, for the first time, the different ways that deportation might justify a lower sentence in Victoria, as well as some questions that, if answered, would make the work of the courts more consistent and predictable
“Given the growing number of offenders being deported each year because of their criminal record, sentencing courts are more frequently having to decide what role, if any, a person’s possible future deportation should play in their sentence.’
“This is a very contentious issue. Australian states and territories are split on whether deportation should play any role in sentencing. And in those jurisdictions like Victoria where deportation is recognised as relevant to sentencing, the issues being faced by courts are very complex.”
During that year 1,015 foreign criminals had their visas automatically cancelled due to sentencing, compared to just 244 in 2023-24, including 50 for drug offences, 27 for child sex offences, and 13 for rape and indecent assault.
Header image: Melbourne Magistrates Court. By Canley – Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, Link (cropped)