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Legislative Assembly for the ACT: 2003 Week 12 Hansard (18 November) . . Page.. 4212 ..

MS GALLAGHER: On 12 December 2002, the Crimes (Industrial Manslaughter) Amendment Bill was introduced into the Legislative Assembly and referred to the Standing Committee on Legal Affairs for report.

The bill's intent is to ensure that employers can be held responsible where their criminally reckless or negligent conduct causes the death of a worker. The bill will enable a more effective application of the law of manslaughter to corporate employers whose conduct is grossly negligent or who take unjustifiable risks with the lives of their workers.

The bill also provides that senior officers of businesses, corporations, government entities, and government ministers can be prosecuted, as natural persons, for industrial manslaughter where they cause the death of a worker. The bill will introduce new financial penalties of up to $5 million for corporations.

The bill is a very important part of the government's occupational health and safety compliance and enforcement strategy. Referral to the committee has given the community an opportunity to comment on its provisions.

The committee released its report on 17 September 2003. The report details the findings of the committee's inquiry into the bill. The report makes six recommendations. The government has accepted the major recommendation of that report-that is, to proceed with the bill-and agrees in principle with the intent of the committee's recommendations.

The government notes that the committee was satisfied that concerns that the provisions of the bill weakened the criminal standards of proof in relation to manslaughter, hence exposing persons unfairly to prosecution, are unfounded and that there is no weakening of standards or watering down of the elements of the manslaughter offence.

The government also notes that the committee addressed concerns that natural persons as "senior officers"could be prosecuted under the provisions of the bill for the conduct of an employer-a form of "vicarious liability". The committee noted correctly "that for a natural person to be convicted of industrial manslaughter they must be charged on the basis of their own actions or omissions and negligence or recklessness causing death"and that "this must be proved beyond reasonable doubt. The conviction of a corporation would not, automatically, result in the guilt of any particular officer of the corporation".

The government would like to thank committee members for their work on this complex and important legislation and I would indicate that we will be proceeding with the bill in the November sittings.

I move:

Debate (on motion by Mr Pratt ) adjourned to the next sitting.

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