Page 2326 - Week 06 - Thursday, 10 May 2012
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relationship with an adult, particularly an adult in a position of authority due to the power imbalance inherent in such a relationship. This risk warrants the creation of specific offences.
The new offences will provide a non-exhaustive list of “position of authority” relationships. It will include: teacher in a school/student at that school; step-parent, foster parent or legal guardian/young person; religious instructor/young person; professional counsellor/young person; health professional/patient; police or prison officer/young person in care or custody; employer/employee; and sports coach/young person.
These new offences will protect young people from unscrupulous adults. By prohibiting sexual relations between 16 to 17 year olds and adults who are in a position of authority over them, a clear boundary is drawn, making it less likely that adults in such positions will abuse their position of authority.
The bill continues the important work of the government’s sexual assault reform program. It does this by extending the class of persons for whom pre-recorded police interviews can be admitted as evidence and allows the audiovisual evidence of victims of sexual offences to be recorded and played at any related proceeding, such as a retrial, to provide greater protections for vulnerable witnesses and sexual and violent offence matters.
The bill also amends the definitions of “vagina” and “sexual intercourse” to ensure that the ACT’s approach to sexual offences is contemporary and consistent with the approach in other jurisdictions.
Amendments in this bill will also provide that a court must allow a victim impact statement to be read aloud where the maker of the statement wishes, and where a person would be entitled to provide evidence by audiovisual link in a sexual or violent offence proceeding that person can also provide a victim impact statement by audiovisual link in the same proceeding.
The bill will also provide a new drug offence and make some amendments to serious drug offences. Firstly, the bill will create a new offence of possessing a tablet press. A tablet press is an instrument or machine that may be used to manufacture a controlled drug in tablet form. The offence will criminalise the possession of a tablet press where a person is reckless about the item in their possession being a tablet press.
Secondly, the bill amends the drugs offences of possessing a controlled precursor with intent to manufacture and sell by providing a presumption that the defendant intended to sell where the prosecution has shown they intended to manufacture the controlled precursor substance. This will address concerns about the enforceability of the possession of controlled precursor offences in the Criminal Code. The amendments will support the overarching purpose of the ACT’s serious drug offences and bring the offence closer in to line with other jurisdictions.
Thirdly, the bill clarifies the intention and operation of offences for the supply or possession of a substance, equipment, plant material or instructions for manufacturing a controlled drug or cultivating a controlled plant.
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