Data were derived from South Australian sentencing trends, court records, and in-depth interviews of members of the legal professional involved in the implementation of the VIS. The quantitative data supported neither the argument that VISs have an overall harshening effect on sentencing, nor did it confirm any of the supposed benefits of VISs in terms of increased victim restitution or compensation. The qualitative data indicated that, in the minority of cases where VISs affected sentencing outcome, they led judges to impose a more lenient, rather than a more severe, sentence. 2 tables, 2 figures, 3 notes, and 33 references