Page 4178 - Week 12 - Wednesday, 23 October 2019
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do is everything within our power to make the workplace as safe as possible for these great staff.
Our firefighters often go into harm’s way. They do not just attend peaceful house fires. They also attend bikie and arson shootouts, not only as firefighters but also as our first responder rescuers. When other first responders are not available, our firefighters go to whatever the event is in the ACT.
In the prison we have seen significant prisoner-on-officer attacks. Our prison is not an easy place to work. The staff there have a serious problem with morale, as the Assembly knows, and as I have mentioned many times. All these people wear a uniform and are obvious in the community whilst doing dangerous work. That is why they deserve every legal protection we can reasonably offer them from here in the Assembly.
Across Australia and in the ACT, frontline community service providers are at an increasing risk of being assaulted, attacked and harmed in the line of duty. Several hundred assaults have been recorded against police officers in the past decade and assaults against paramedics are on the rise. In a 2019 survey of police officers, 66 per cent of the 212 respondents stated that they have been assaulted while on the job. That is a very high rate for a workforce.
Data from ACT Policing has shown that assaults on police have steadily risen since 2011. In this time, the Canberra Liberals have continually advocated for these laws. In fact, we brought similar legislation into the Assembly in 2012 and made it an election commitment in 2016. And, at every opportunity, the Labor-Greens government have failed to support these much-needed reforms.
In the ACT health system, doctors, nurses and other practitioners are increasingly at risk of harm, with approximately two assaults on frontline health staff every single day. Beyond the physical injuries, frontline community service providers who are attacked in the line of duty often experience ongoing stress and trauma. This can be made worse when their attackers receive insufficient punishment. Attacks on frontline community service providers should never be tolerated. It is an injustice to those who serve our community in this capacity.
The bill recognises the unique occupational vulnerability of frontline community service providers and offers greater levels of protection for them. The bill helps to establish a more secure work environment and makes clear to the broader community that attacks on those who serve our community in this way will never be tolerated.
The bill establishes a new offence for assaulting a frontline community service provider, with a maximum penalty of five years imprisonment; a new offence for intentionally or recklessly driving at a frontline community service provider and exposing them to a risk to safety, with a maximum penalty of 15 years imprisonment; a new offence for driving at or causing damage to a police vehicle or other frontline community service provider’s vehicle, with a maximum penalty of five years; and the bill also establishes 13 aggravated offences so that if they are committed against
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