The Australian Medical Association said it does not support mandatory minimum sentencing for assaults on doctors.
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Doctors were not included in a new bill, tabled in state parliament on Tuesday, which seeks to enforce mandatory minimum jail sentences for assaults resulting in serious bodily harm to specified frontline workers.
AMA Tasmania president Professor John Burgess said while the AMA strongly condemns assaults on any worker, there is little evidence that mandatory sentencing acts as a deterrent for violent behaviour and therefore offers no protection to frontline workers.
"To the contrary, there is evidence to show that mandatory sentencing can lead to perverse outcomes, such as, a person being found not guilty as a mandatory sentence would have been grossly unfair on them once the particulars of their case was understood," Professor Burgess said.
"We believe judges have the experience and knowledge of the law and are best placed to determine the sentence against a perpetrator of crime, just as a doctor is best placed to determine the treatment required for a patient."
The bill does, however, seek to impose mandatory minimum sentences of imprisonment for assaults on ambulance officers, nurses, midwives, medical orderlies and hospital attendants.
A government spokesperson said feedback from a range of medical associations and stakeholders helped inform and shape the final bill.
"The bill was widely consulted on in its draft form," the spokesperson said.
On Tuesday, Attorney-General Elise Archer said the government will continue to review and monitor these provisions with a view to possibly extending them to further categories of frontline workers in the future.