ACT govt to explore dropping character references for child sex offenders

There will be a roundtable on Friday with key justice stakeholders to discuss alternative options to references.

The possible change has been prompted by Your Reference Ain't Relevant campaign, which has been seeking to drop good character references for those convicted of child sexual abuse across the country.

Attorney-General Shane Rattenbury committed to the roundtable in his response to a petition led by the campaign's founder Harrison James.

The roundtable's purpose will be "to identify changes that could be implemented which align with the objectives of sentencing, and address the legitimate concerns raised by those with lived experience".

Alternate options could include revised language or "reviewing court processes to mitigate the risks of re-traumatisation for victim-survivors".

A character reference can be taken into account by a magistrate when determining a sentence for a person convicted of a crime.

The option for a good character reference is not available to some convicted child sex offenders such as teachers and religious leaders but can be used by others, including relatives and family friends.

Mr James will take part in the roundtable. He said the aim of the campaign was to shift focus to the seriousness of the offence rather than the perpetrators apparent good reputation.

"This roundtable signifies a crucial milestone in our campaign's trajectory, and I sincerely hope the legal community, the government and survivors can all come together in solidarity and commit to legislative reform," he said.

"It's time to forge a path forward that ensures no other survivor of child sexual abuse suffers the trauma of having their experiences dismissed and invalidated by irrelevant character references."

Mr Rattenbury's responded to Mr James petition earlier this month.

"I recognise the significant impact that the presentation of 'good character' references during sentencing of child sexual abuse offenders has on victim-survivors," he wrote in the response.

"I agree it is timely to consider what reform could look like in the ACT to make the sentencing process more trauma-informed."

The ACT Bar Association has spoken out against the proposal, saying "evidence of prior pro-social conduct of an offender is relevant to the sentencing exercise".

"Sentencing is a nuanced, multi-factorial exercise. One of the factors to which ACT courts are obliged to have regard, and properly so, is the 'character, antecedents, age and physical or mental condition of the offender', the association said in a statement.