Page 4311 - Week 10 - Thursday, 22 September 2011
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The ability for the commissioner to consider criminal intelligence is necessary to ensure the probity of individuals working in the security industry. By limiting the scope of information that can be provided and including independent judicial safeguards, any limitation on human rights and rights to procedural fairness is kept to the minimum required to ensure the integrity of the industry.
The confidentiality mechanisms also protect against inappropriate disclosure of criminal intelligence which could have serious consequences in terms of effective law enforcement and the personal safety of individuals. To ensure the suitability of licensees this bill provides that the commissioner may not issue licences to people who have been convicted or found guilty of certain offences.
These exclusionary offences, as agreed by COAG, are serious offences such as assault, firearms offences and offences involving terrorism. Proposed sections 21(1A) and 21(1B) provide that the commissioner must not issue a licence if the applicant has been convicted in the previous 10 years or found guilty in the previous five years of one of the offences identified in the bill.
Enforcement of this requirement requires the commissioner to have access to information about spent convictions, engaging the right to privacy and raising issues of discrimination. However, given the seriousness and nature of the offences listed, I believe that this limitation on rights is entirely justifiable within the context of this industry.
There is a minimum penalty level for convictions that are considered for the new suitability criteria set out in proposed new section 21(1B) The effect of this is that for offences involving assault, violence against a person, dishonest theft, possession, storage or use of a firearm or other weapon, or offences involving a controlled drug, plant or precursor other than possession set out in clause 10 of the bill, a mandatory exclusion period only applies if there is a penalty imposed of imprisonment, a fine of $500 or more, or both. Where no conviction is recorded there is no mandatory exclusion period in relation to these specified categories of offences.
A key element of the agreed national reforms is consistent criteria for identification checks. These reforms specify evidence of the applicant’s identity in accordance with standards that are already familiar in our community, that of the 100-point check. Additionally, applicants for a security licence will be required to submit an image of their fingerprints to ACT Policing for the purpose of verifying their identity. Again this measure engages the right to privacy and again the government has included measures to minimise any limitation on this right.
To protect the privacy of applicants the bill provides that the commissioner and the Chief Police Officer must destroy any copy of the fingerprints that is not returned to the applicant. Further, the applicant must be advised in writing that this has occurred, thereby assuring them that no further use can be made of the fingerprints.
The amendments proposed in this bill confer on the commissioner the power to request a copy of the applicant’s criminal history from a foreign country if the
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