Borce Ristevski has been sentenced to nine years in jail for killing his wife Karen at the couple's home in Melbourne's north-west before dumping her body in bushland and denying any involvement in her disappearance until the eve of his trial.

Key points: Ristevski was originally charged with murder but later pleaded guilty to manslaughter

Ristevski was originally charged with murder but later pleaded guilty to manslaughter With time already served, he will be eligible for parole in less than five years

With time already served, he will be eligible for parole in less than five years The sentence has been criticised by Karen Ristevski's family and domestic violence groups

The 55-year-old has never explained how he killed his wife on the morning of June 29, 2016, despite pleading guilty to manslaughter last month.

After killing his wife at their Avondale Heights home, Ristevski put her body in the boot of his car and drove to Mount Macedon, where he hid it in a nature reserve under logs, branches and foliage.

Karen Ristevski was killed by her husband, who denied involvement until the eve of his trial. ( Supplied )

By the time the 47-year-old's remains were found in February 2017, the cause of her death could not be determined.

Justice Christopher Beale ordered Ristevski to serve a minimum term of six years.

Taking into account the 491 days he has already served, Ristevski will be eligible for parole in less than five years.

'We didn't get justice today'

Outside court, Ms Ristevski's brother Stephen Williams expressed disappointment at the sentence.

"Nothing was going to bring Karen back, but today was about justice, and we didn't get justice today at all," he said.

"As a society at some stage we will … in regards to domestic violence make a stand … it wasn't today."

The sentence was slammed by domestic violence organisations, with the CEO of No to Violence, Jacqui Watt, saying: "family violence cannot end until the men who use family violence change the actions they take in harming women and their beliefs, attitudes, behaviour and choices.

"The question we must ask is this: does this sentence reflect community attitudes now that the community is more aware of the prevalence and serious nature of family violence? The answer is clearly no."

Opposition leader Michael O'Brien said it was "for the role of Parliament" to fix sentencing laws, calling for the recently scrapped parliamentary Sentencing Reform Committee to be re-established.

Ristevski was initially charged with his wife's murder but ultimately pleaded guilty to manslaughter after the trial judge ruled the evidence of his conduct after her death could not be used to prove he had murderous intent.

The case against Ristevski was built around a series of contradictory and misleading statements he gave to police, family and friends in the months after his wife's disappearance.

Court documents detailed how Ristevski sought to deceive police and family members — including the couple's daughter Sarah — during the investigation including by changing phone numbers multiple times and warning a relative that police were "listening".

Stephen Williams expressed disappointment with the sentence. ( ABC News )

Prosecutors told an earlier hearing that the couple had argued about Ms Ristevski's clothing business, which was more than $400,000 in debt, on the morning of her death.

Ristevski changed his story about the morning of her disappearance several times — telling police they had an argument and she walked out of the house after telling him: "I can't talk to you right now — I'm going to clear my head".

Phone records showed Ristevski did not call any family or friends about Ms Ristevski's whereabouts after she disappeared.

He reported his wife missing 24 hours after killing her.

Ristevski spun 'web of lies'

Justice Beale said in the hours after killing his wife, Ristevski had "started down a road of deceit that [he was] to continue on for nearly three years".

"In the days — indeed months and years — that followed [Ms Ristevski's death], you continued spinning your web of lies. Lying not only to your daughter, but to extended family, friends, police, and even the public in a media conference organised by the police missing persons unit," he said.

The judge said these lies, particularly those he told his daughter, along with the way he disposed of his wife's body, constituted "a circumstance of significant aggravation".

Borce Ristevski with his daughter Sarah, shortly after Karen Ristevski was reported missing in 2016. ( AAP: Tracey Nearmy )

The court heard excerpts from victim impact statements, which Justice Beale said showed the "sheer grief" of Karen's family and the "profound impact" of her death.

"Your disposal and concealment of Karen's body in Macedon resulted in family members not only having to cope with the anguish of her inexplicable disappearance, but also with the fact that her remains were significantly decomposed when she was found," he said.

"A constant source of anger and disbelief referred to in the statements was your active participation in your wife's funeral, including the fact that you not only comforted so many in the family when you secretly knew you were the cause of their grief, but that you also carried your wife's casket in the knowledge that you killed her.

"Although by your plea of guilty to manslaughter, you have finally accepted responsibility for killing Karen, you have not revealed how or why you killed your wife," he said.

"You may have turned off the road of deceit, but you have not taken the high road of full and frank disclosure consistent with true remorse."

Borce Ristevski dumped his wife's body in bushland at Mount Macedon, north-west of Melbourne. ( ABC News: Karen Percy )

Despite that, Justice Beale said he did not regard Ristevski's silence as providing evidence he had committed high-level manslaughter and accepted he did not kill his wife with murderous intent.

In his sentencing remarks, Justice Beale said Ristevski's daughter Sarah — who did not provide a victim impact statement, but instead wrote a character reference — "is not alone in the depiction of you as a loving father and husband".

"I accept that apart from the commission of your crime and your post-offence conduct, you have been a person of good character," Justice Beale said, adding he believed the prospect of Ristevski being rehabilitated was "good".

Justice Beale said Sarah Ristevski was her father's "principal victim" after his wife, and her predicament was "an agonising one".

In a character reference for her father, Ms Ristevski, 24, referred to her mother's killing as "the act of violence" and said the love her parents had for each other was "something I hope to one day experience for myself".

"The circumstances have left me without both of my parents," Ms Ristevski said.

"All I can try and do is communicate the truth of how good of a dad and husband he was to my mum and I."

Ms Ristevski said she had never witnessed any form of violence between her parents.

Justice Christopher Beale's sentencing remarks:

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