Martha Yiech was seven months' pregnant with her seventh child when she bit the woman's ear off during a Sudanese community meeting at a Delacombe house at 6pm on November 19, 2019.

Yiech was spared immediate imprisonment and was sentenced to a two-year community corrections order at the Ballarat Magistrates' Court on Thursday.

The victim attended court for the sentencing hearing.

Magistrate Ron Saines told Yiech he considered her offending to be a serious example of the offence of recklessly causing injury, which she pleaded guilty to in February.

"As it is, recklessly causing injury is punishable by up to five years of imprisonment," Mr Saines said.

"Here, your biting is very close to being an intentional inflict of injury and the consequences of your conduct, the permanent loss of a substantial portion of this lady's ear, is very close to serious injury.

"I will sentence you for recklessly causing injury but I do so in circumstances that this is a serious example of that offence."

The magistrate said there was a need for denunciation and deterrence to Yiech and the community.

On the night of the incident, Yiech and the victim were at another Sudanese woman's house when Yiech had a telephone conversation with a community leader from Sudan about the women teaching their children traditions.

The victim refused the suggestion and an altercation broke out. Yiech slapped the victim, the two women grappled with each other and Yiech then bit down on the victim's left ear.

Yiech removed a large proportion of the victim's ear, spat it out and let it drop onto the floor. She had blood around her mouth.

The fight was broken up and the victim was driven to hospital. Surgeons were unable to reattach the victim's ear due to infection and she had undergone two reconstruction operations.

Mr Saines said the court must consider the impact of the offending on the victim, who had been excluded from the Sudanese community in Ballarat.

"The greatest consequence to her is her exclusion from the Sudanese community. She feels alone, she is fearful of you and your supporters and she is isolated without the close friends you have," he told Yiech.

"She feels ashamed and disconnected. This is a big impact. If you are truly remorseful, you will either by yourself or with your friends, reach out to her."

The court was told the victim suffered headaches and substantial cosmetic consequences which were permanent.

The magistrate said he applied leniency to the sentence because Yiech had pleaded guilty, she had no prior offending, she otherwise had a good character and the attack was spontaneous.

"I have considered multiple references from your community which show that despite personal hardship for you and your children in Sudan and Ethipoia before you came to Australia, despite this matter, you have been a leader and supporter of others in need here in Australia," Mr Saines said.

Yiech, who sat in the front row of the court with an interpreter, was convicted and sentenced to a two-year community corrections order which includes 200 hours of unpaid community work and supervision for the first 12 months.

The Sudanese woman has lived in Australia for 13 years.

If you are seeing this message you are a loyal digital subscriber to The Courier, as we made this story available only to subscribers. Thank you very much for your support and allowing us to continue telling Ballarat's story. We appreciate your support of journalism in our great city.