A man who leaked secret documents outlining allegations of war crimes committed by Australian troops has a months-long wait to find out whether he goes to jail.
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David McBride pleaded guilty to three charges encompassing him stealing classified commonwealth information and passing it onto journalists without permission.
The prosecution and defence will outline their sentencing arguments in the ACT Supreme Court on March 12.
The parties will work towards negotiating an agreed statement of facts but should elements be disputed, they will need to be aired in court.
Written evidence will need to be filed to the court at least a week in advance.
The Supreme Court ordered McBride undergo an assessment for a custodial sentence that would allow him to serve his sentence in the community where he would be supervised and need permission to leave the ACT.
Justice David Mossop rejected McBride's push to have the jury hear classified information after the Commonwealth argued revealing it would jeopardise Australia's national security.
His full reasonings will not be made public until redactions on classified material can be applied and agreed on by both parties.
McBride's lawyer Mark Davis has said while there was a chance his client would avoid prison time, they were not taking "any great hope".
The leaked material led to a series of media reports outlining alleged war crimes committed by Australian special forces in Afghanistan.
An inquiry later found credible evidence of alleged war crimes that involved the killing of 39 Afghans and cruel treatment of two more between 2005 and 2016.
One man has since been charged with the war crime of murder.
Australian Associated Press
