A Pre-Sentence Report also commonly referred to as a PSR is a report which is compiled by an officer from the Community Corrections Department. It is a report which is generally ordered to be carried out by the Court for more serious matters so as to explore whether there are any other suitable penalties available other than a custodial sentence (jail).

The Magistrate or Judge of the Court will request that a Pre-Sentence Report be ordered for more serious matters where a plea of guilty has been entered or where the defendant has pleaded not guilty but has been found guilty after a defended hearing.

Keep in mind that for very serious matters the Court can ordered an immediate custodial sentence without seeking a PSR. However, established case law directs the Court to use a term of imprisonment as a last resort when it comes to sentencing an offender. So for that reason the Court can often be assisted by reviewing a Pre-Sentence Report to explore alternatives to jail.

What happens if a Pre-Sentence Report is ordered?

The Magistrate or Judge will usually adjourn the matter for approximately 6 weeks for a PSR to be prepared by Corrective Services. The defendant will usually be directed to make contact with the closest Community Corrections Office to where they live or work and it is usual for the Court to direct that the defendant make contact within 7 days.

Once you have made initial contact with the Community Corrections Office they will generally arrange a suitable time with the defendant to come into their office to have an initial interview with a case work from their office.

This will be the defendants 1st opportunity to comply and co-operate with Community Corrections.

It cannot be more strongly advised that you go out of your way to do anything requested of you by the Community Corrections case worker. Comply with all of their directions and be as co-operative as possible because your overall attitude will be reflected in the final Pre-Sentence Report that they write up and send to the Court for the Magistrate or Judge to read prior to sentencing the defendant.

The Community Corrections case worker is there to assist you and gain a bit of an insight into who you are, your personal history, any drug or alcohol issues, medical and mental health issues, physical or emotional issues, your employment status and living arrangement amongst a range of other issues about the defendant.

Once they have interviewed the defendant they may seek to confirm some of the issues with the defendant family member or employer. The case worker MAY require a 2nd interview in order to comprehensively finalise their report.

The interview will usually be held during standard working hours so it is important that the defendant attend the pre-arrange appointment on time and present themselves in a clean and respectful manner.

It is always in the best interest of the defendant to try their best to get along with the case worker since it is always best to avoid the case worker preparing a negative report to be sent back to the Court for the sentence hearing.

Tips to remember when attending an interview for a Pre-Sentence Report

• Prepare yourself mentally for potential questions and issues they will want to know about your offence and your history.
• Be prepared to discuss issues surrounding:

• • Your current living arrangements such as your address, length of time your have resided there and any previous addresses you may have resided at over the past 12 months.
  • Your family background such as who your mother, father and siblings are and whether you have support from them. Also the general dynamics of the family relationships either growing up or in recent time and also whether any other family members have a history of criminality.
  • Your domestic situation such as whether you are married, in a relationship (de facto) or single. Also be prepared to explain any DVO/AVO’s that may be in place and whether there is a history of domestic violence or alternatively the level of support you may have from your spouse and immediate family.
  • Your cultural background such as religion, race or customary issues that you have been raised on or expected to follow in the past.
  • Your education such as what level of schooling or tertiary education or post-school qualifications and training you may have attained. Also whether you have  experienced any problems with any education institutions such as being expelled from schools.
  • Your current and any previous employment history you may have such as what you did, how long you held the job for, what you were paid and any issues you may have experienced in the workplace such as being terminated or being discriminated or bullied in the workplace.
  • Your current financial position, here you need to be very transparent with all of the income you receive and the expenses you need to attend to regularly.
  • Your community involvement, if you are involved with any community associations such as sports clubs, churches, charities or any other community organisations then you should definitely raise this with the case worker. It is a good idea to give the case worker an insight into what you get up to in your spare time.
  • Your circle of friends, give the case worker an idea of what type of people you socialise with and spend time with. If your friends are also involved in criminal activity then you should explain that those are the people that you need to distance yourself from. This will show a level of self-awareness to the case worker.
  • Issues you may have surrounding drug and/or alcohol abuse, dependency or mismanagement. It is worth being truthful with your case worker about these issues so they can be appropriately address and any rehabilitation programs can be considered.
  • Your medical or psychological issues you may be experiencing or have experienced in the past.
  • If you have any mental or physical disabilities then these will be important issues to bring to the attention of the case worker since they may inhibit you from carrying out any directions of Corrective Services.
  • Your overall attitude towards the offence & offending behaviour.
  • Who is best to contact to verify the information you have discussed with the corrective services case worker.

As you can see, this is a large ranging interview however, if you respond to all questions honestly, completely and respectfully, then the officer composing your report will have the ability to give the fullest possible range of choices to the Court.

This may include a Supervised Bond with specific, targeted interventions for you to carry out; a Community Service Order or other choices– all focused on keeping you from a sentence of full time imprisonment.