ACT Attorney-General Shane Rattenbury will convene a roundtable with justice stakeholders on Friday to explore options to convicted child sex offenders presenting good character references to reduce their sentences.

The roundtable follows the ‘Your Reference Ain’t Relevant’ campaign: in January, campaign organisers Harrison James and Jarad Grice, both survivors of child sexual abuse, presented a petition to amend the ACT Crimes (Sentencing) Act 2005, and delete the words “to the extent that the offender’s good character enabled the offender to commit the offence”. The petition was signed by 567 people, and sponsored by ACT Greens MLA Andrew Braddock.

Mr Rattenbury said the roundtable aims to identify changes that align with the objectives of sentencing; address the petitioners’ legitimate concerns; and are compatible with the human rights of all persons involved in the criminal justice system.

The roundtable could discuss revised language (moving away from the concept of ‘good character’) or reviewing court processes to mitigate the risks of re-traumatisation for victim-survivors.

In his response to the petition, Mr Rattenbury said it was “timely to consider what reform could look like in the ACT to make the sentencing process more trauma-informed”. Child sexual abuse offenders producing ‘good character’ references could have a “significant impact” on victim-survivors, he said.

“As the ACT Attorney-General, I acknowledge that participating in the criminal justice process can be challenging for all victims of crime, but I particularly acknowledge the tremendous courage, bravery and personal sacrifice required by victim-survivors of child sexual abuse to participate in criminal proceedings,” Mr Rattenbury said.

“Our criminal justice process relies on victim-survivors to not only report but share their experience of these heinous acts of abuse and they should not have to endure further trauma as a result of their participation in this process.”

Mr James said: “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. 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…

“Perceived good character can be a deceptive aspect of the grooming process, yet it often leads to leniency for convicted child sex offenders. Our aim is to shift this focus to the seriousness of the offence itself, rather than the perpetrator’s apparent good reputation.”

The roundtable will take place at 220 London Circuit.