Pre-sentence report

A pre-sentence report has information about a young person who has pleaded guilty to, or has been found guilty of, an offence. The court asks for a pre-sentence report if they want to know more about you before sentencing you.

The court must ask for the report if they are considering an intensive supervision order, a conditional release or a detention order as possible sentences.

The report contains:

• relevant and detailed information about what has contributed to you breaking the law
• information about what programs and services might be available under the different sentencing options.

What do I have to do?

A youth justice caseworker will arrange an interview with you and your parent or carer about the offence(s). Your caseworker will usually arrange at least 2 interviews with you, but may need to speak with you a number of times to make sure they get all the information they need.

Your caseworker needs to understand why you broke the law, how you feel about what you did and how you feel about the victim(s). They will also explain to you all the options the court has when sentencing you.

Caseworkers may also need to speak to other people to help understand why you offended. The caseworker will speak to you and your parent or carer before speaking to other people.

The process usually takes at least 3 weeks to complete.

What type of questions will my caseworker ask?

The caseworker may talk to you and your parent or carer about:

• you and your family
• school and work
• the offence(s) you committed
• your attitude to the victim(s) of the offence(s)
• any consequences you have experienced due to your actions (e.g. punishment, any positive changes)
• options the magistrate or judge has for sentencing you and whether you would agree to the sentence options
• anything else the court has asked for.

Do I have to answer the questions the caseworker asks?

You are free to choose what information you give to the caseworker. The information you give may be included in the report. If you don’t want to give information, your caseworker will make a note of this in the report. The caseworker will collect information from other people or sources.

Do I get a copy of the pre-sentence report?

That depends on your circumstances. The caseworker will talk with you and your parent or carer about the report and its contents. The caseworker will give the pre-sentence report to the court and copies of the report to your solicitor and the prosecution (the other side).

After you have been sentenced, you can ask for a copy of the pre-sentence report. Before you can get a copy, we need to check if there is any confidential information about another person in the report. You will not get a copy of the report if the court has said copies are not to be given out.

Who can I contact if I have a problem with the pre-sentence report?

If you have any questions about the report, you, your parent or your carer can contact either the caseworker who wrote the report, or the caseworker’s team leader. You can also speak to your solicitor.