Page 486 - Week 02 - Wednesday, 23 March 2022
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from peer workers in a non-clinical environment. No appointment is needed and services are free.
While we cannot stop what is happening abroad, we can, as a community, continue to stand united in support of each other, our fellow culturally and linguistically diverse communities and the organisations supporting those impacted by war and conflict. I unequivocally affirm my own support for the democratically elected government of Ukraine, the Ukrainian people and Canberra’s Ukrainian people.
Question resolved in the affirmative.
Crimes (Policing) Legislation Amendment Bill 2021
Debate resumed from 1 December 2021, on motion by Mr Gentleman:
That this bill be agreed to in principle.
MR HANSON (Murrumbidgee) (11.16): I am quite excited to be talking to this bill because it has been bumped, I think, three or four times. So the tension has been building but I can reveal that the Canberra Liberals will be supporting this legislation. It makes a range of changes which cover the following main areas. It consolidates failure to report offences for child sex offenders into a single offence; it creates a permanent firearms amnesty; it introduces new safe storage requirements for security companies licensed to possess and use guns; and it makes a series of consequential amendments.
The two main changes in this bill cover areas that the Canberra Liberals have previously supported. In relation to child sex offender reforms, the Canberra Liberals have supported every bill that has followed from the royal commission and any related or consequential changes. The firearm provisions broadly cover areas that have also been previously supported, including a permanent amnesty for handing in unlicensed firearms and safer storage for licensed firearms.
Turning to the specific provisions, we note that at present the child sex offender act sets out 18 different offences for failing to adhere to reporting obligations. In this bill, these offences will be replaced by a single offence provision. This is in line with other jurisdictions such as Victoria, where there is only one offence provision. The reporting requirements cover circumstances such as when offenders are sentenced when entering the ACT and when leaving the ACT, when there are changes to travel plans while outside the ACT, when an offender returns to the ACT and when other details change.
Reporting details include the household in which the offender generally lives, the premises where the offender is generally employed, the motor vehicle that the offender generally drives and other relevant details. These requirements, as has been noted, existed in various forms and in various acts up until now, and the bill consolidates the requirements and penalties into a single statute.
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