Page 2016 - Week 07 - Thursday, 24 June 2021
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I now turn to the part of this bill that strengthens protections for children. The bill amends the Crimes (Child Sex Offenders) Act 2005 to add the commonwealth offence of possession of a child-like sex doll to the schedule of offences that can result in an offender being on the child sex offender register. The amendment will have the effect that people convicted of that offence will be required to be on the child sex offender register unless they come within limited circumstances of exception, including where the offender satisfies the court that they are not a risk to the lives or sexual safety of children.
The purpose of the scheme and the amendments proposed in the bill are to reduce the likelihood that registrable offenders will reoffend against children, including any escalation of offending. This can include a person progressing from non-contact offences like the commonwealth offence of possession of a child-like sex doll to contact offending, for example indecent or sexual assault of children. It protects children from potential predators and reflects the expectation of the community that laws support the safety and protection of children from sexual assault and violence.
Other amendments made by the bill are intended to support the effectiveness, transparency and fairness of criminal investigations and law enforcement. The bill makes amendments to the Crimes (Surveillance Devices) Act 2010 and the Listening Devices Act 1992 to support the use of body-worn cameras by police officers who are performing their duties in a range of situations, including in public places and private premises.
Body-worn cameras are widely used by police throughout Australia and internationally, and they have been infamously critical to ensuring justice for some individuals. While ACT Policing has used body-worn cameras since 2019 in a range of situations, including automatic activation where a firearm or taser is drawn, there is value in the transparency and clarity that these provisions provide about how this tool is to be used. These provisions will promote the safety of police and members of the community, increase transparency around police conduct and support police in gathering evidence in a timely and effective way.
The proposal relating to body-worn cameras was the subject of community consultation through a YourSay community panel survey process and a public information paper published on the Justice and Community Safety Directorate’s website, which sought broader community feedback on the reforms. Public feedback was broadly supportive of the reforms, with many individuals and organisations taking a particular interest in the accompanying safeguards, including around privacy and access to footage.
Safeguards have been built into the amendments to ensure an appropriate balance between what is required to satisfy the operational needs of police and the right to privacy. Under the new provisions, body-worn cameras can be used in the course of a police officer’s duties, although the use must, subject to limited exceptions, be overt. The exceptions include where overt use would cause or increase the risk of safety to a person.
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