DPP v Welsh (No.3) [2024] ACTSC 179

• Evidence of successful engagement in formal rehabilitation program justified suspended sentence for serious offences

[65] The role of the Glen program in assisting Mr Welsh must also be acknowledged. Culturally sensitive programs such as the Glen can be of immense importance: see Vanessa Edwige and Dr Paul Gray, Significance of Culture to Wellbeing Healing and Rehabilitation (Report, Public Defenders (NSW), The Bugmy Bar Book Project, June 2021), 19 – 40. As that report notes, “strong cultural supports and programs in communities that help facilitate the building of healthy communities ‘will facilitate the successful reintegration of Indigenous offenders once they leave custody, while also reducing the likelihood of Indigenous people commencing a criminal trajectory’” (at 32 [130]). As Mr Welsh explained, it was “the whole experience” of the Glen program which has been so critical to his rehabilitation.

(see earlier related judgment below)