Forcing courts in NSW to consider Victim Impact Statements when sentencing violent offenders raises questions about the value of one life compared to another, according to Charles Sturt University (CSU) academic Ms Amber McKinley.

Ms McKinley, from the University's School of Policing Studies, said, "The proposed changes to the law could create a two-tiered sentencing system: those cases where there will be an impact when someone important is a homicide victim and those where, unfortunately, there will be no recognised impact in the form of a Victim Impact Statement".

Last month, the State Opposition Leader John Robertson introduced the Crimes (Sentencing Procedure) Amendment (Victim Impact Statements - Mandatory Consideration) Bill 2014, telling Parliament he wants to "put victim impact statements at the heart of our system of sentencing".

Unlike other jurisdictions, NSW judges are not required to take Victim Impact Statements into account in sentencing violent offenders and are specifically prohibited from considering them in homicide cases.

Ms McKinley said, "I believe that the proposed amendments to the NSW legislation are haphazard and do not reflect the intention that is being proposed".

"While it is early in the life of the Bill, there is still no guidance on how a court will take a Victim Impact Statement into account," she said.

"In my view, there will have to be amendments made to the actual legislation to ensure that there is a better balance during sentencing between a Victim Impact Statement, the objective or aggravating circumstances and the subjective circumstances of mitigating factors.

"In the meantime I am concerned that the public may be deceived into thinking that there is a value on life that can be different in different circumstances.

"Although there will be procedural safeguards to ensure that no inferences are drawn if the family of the victim does not wish to present an impact statement, what of those deceased who are not represented by family members – either because they had no family, or unfortunately will not be missed?

"There is also the chance that in the eyes of some a difference will develop when recognising the harm done to the community when someone is murdered.

"Is it 'worth' more when looking at a sentence to murder someone who is very prominent in the community and whose work will be sorely missed?

"Should the deceased's contributions to the community be factored in sentencing?

Fundamentally, I do not believe that human loss should be measured by the courts in this way".

A lecturer in the School of Policing Studies at CSU in Goulburn, Ms McKinley's research includes victim care in police investigations, homicide solvability and Applied Victimology.