New Lawyer Access Checks for Early Guilty Plea Discounts
Crimes (Sentencing Procedure) Amendment Bill 2025
Legislative Assembly
Legislative Council
Assent
Introduced by: Michael Daley MP (ALP); The Hon Daniel Mookhey MLC (ALP)
Links to official parliament websites
Effects of this bill
If this bill passes, it means that:
The Debate
What different members said when this bill was debated:
Susan Carter LIB
“On behalf of the Opposition I speak in debate on the Crimes (Sentencing Procedure) Amendment Bill 2025 and indicate at the outset that we support the bill. As has been indicated, the bill addresses an existing gap in the sentencing law.”
Sue Higginson GRN
“I contribute to debate on behalf of The Greens to indicate our support for the Crimes (Sentencing Procedure) Amendment Bill 2025. Procedural fairness is a fundamental pillar of any justice system, and this bill is a critical step in upholding that principle. The early appropriate guilty plea [EAGP] scheme was legislated in 2018.”
Rose Jackson ALP
“I had not intended to speak on the Crimes (Sentencing Procedure) Amendment Bill 2025, but I want to clarify a couple of factual errors that were contained in the Hon. Susan Carter’s contribution to debate on the bill, related to the dispute with the psychiatrists.”
Natalie Ward LIB
“I feel compelled to make a contribution to debate on the Crimes (Sentencing Procedure) Amendment Bill 2025. I will try to keep it brief, because I note the number of advisers here at this time of night; the mercy rule must apply at some point. I am all in favour of robust contributions in this place, but in her contribution to this debate the Hon.”
Emily Suvaal ALP
“This bill has been brought about in an effort to ensure the law deals equally with offenders whose fitness is in question, regardless of whether they enter a guilty plea or make a plea offer. The bill amends the sentencing discount regime set out in part 3, division 1A of the Crimes (Sentencing Procedure) Act 1999.”
News articles and press releases
Crimes (Sentencing Procedure) Amendment Bill 2025
Dr HUGH McDERMOTT, Member for Prospect — 2025-03-26
The bill will address a gap in the legislation for plea offers made by offenders who have become fit to be tried after having been earlier committed as mentally unfit to stand trial. It will do so by introducing two amendments to section 25E of the Crimes (Sentencing Procedure) Act 1999 to allow a 25 per cent discount on sentence for offenders who were committed as unfit to be tried but then made a relevant plea offer as soon as practicable after being found fit; and to require the sentencing court to consider whether the offender had a reasonable opportunity to obtain legal advice and instruct a legal representative in determining whether the offer was made "as soon as practicable". The rationale for this reform is procedural fairness.