Where a guilty plea is entered without the need for any trial, the sentencing court must ascertain the facts of the case before it can pass sentence.

If the defendant has pleaded guilty in the Magistrates Court, the police prosecutor outlines the facts from the police report.

In the higher courts, if the accused was committed for sentence or pleads guilty at an arraignment before the trial, the judge has the facts set out in the formal statements of the witnesses (and any evidence given at a preliminary hearing).

If material facts are disputed, there may need to be a disputed fact hearing (see Disputed fact hearing).

Once the court has established the facts of the case, the prosecution advises the court if there are any prior offences (see Prior offending). In particular, where a defendant has been convicted of a serious offence, the prosecution will advise if there are previous serious offences which make the defendant liable to be declared a serious repeat offender. The prosecution may also put other relevant matters to the court, and the defendant must be provided with the opportunity to have further offences taken into account when dealing with the principal offence (if applicable) [Sentencing Act 2017 (SA) ss 31 - 35].

Other relevant matters may include the prosecution’s outline of any injury, loss or damage resulting from the offence, any applications for restitution or compensation on behalf of the victim and/or any victim impact statements [ss 13, 14, 123 and 124]. A victim impact statement may set out how the victim believes the crime has affected them [Sentencing Act 2017 (SA) s 14]. The statement can be read aloud in court by the victim or another person or can be considered prior to sentencing without being read aloud in court [Sentencing Act 2017 (SA) s 14(2)].

The defendant, or their lawyer, then has an opportunity to address the court about any matters relevant to sentencing. These are called submissions in mitigation of penalty (see Mitigating circumstances).

The defendant is able, with the court's consent, to appear during sentencing via audio visual link as opposed to being physically present in court [Sentencing Act 2017 (SA) s 21].