Michael Keenan (Stirling, Liberal Party, Minister for Justice) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I move:

That this bill be now read a second time.

I am pleased to introduce the Crimes Legislation Amendment (Powers, Offences and Other Measures) Bill 2017, which contains a range of measures to improve and clarify Commonwealth criminal justice arrangements. This government is committed to providing our law enforcement agencies with the tools and powers they need to do their job and ensuring that Commonwealth laws are robust and effective.

To that end, we keep our criminal justice framework under constant review—our agencies, policies, laws and processes—to ensure that we have a regime in place that is well equipped to deal with the job of tackling crime.

This bill contains a range of measures across Commonwealth acts. I will address the key measures in the bill in further detail.

Amendment of the AFP Act

Schedule 1 amends the functions of the Australian Federal Police contained in section 8 of the Australian Federal Police Act 1979. The amendments clarify the functions of the Australian Federal Police to enable them to provide assistance and cooperation with international organisations and non-government organisations in relation to the provision of police services or police support services. The amendments also provide a definition of 'international organisation'.

The amendments will ensure that the AFP is able to share information with a range of organisations, depending on the types of investigations on foot and the changing criminal threat environment. International partnerships allow the AFP to meet operational challenges and threats and progress Australia's national interests. The AFP's core work across all crime types is becoming increasing global and, as a result, international cooperation is becoming more and more important to the AFP's operations.

Custody notification amendments

Schedule 2 of the bill will amend the custody notification obligation in the Crimes Act. The amendments will clarify the timing of the requirement and ensure that the investigating officials who intend to question an Aboriginal person or a Torres Strait Islander notify an Aboriginal legal assistance organisation before they begin their questioning.

This amendment is necessary following a contrary interpretation of the obligation in an ACT Supreme Court case, which frustrated the intention of the custody notification requirement. The clarification is important for the ACT because the requirement in the Commonwealth Crimes Act applies to ACT offences.

Schedule 2 will therefore put beyond doubt that an investigating official must notify an Aboriginal legal assistance organisation before questioning an Aboriginal person or Torres Strait Islander, giving full effect to the recommendation of the Royal Commission into Aboriginal Deaths in Custody. This was always the original intention of the legislative requirement.

Controlled operations disclosure offence

Schedule 3 amends the controlled operation disclosure offence provisions contained in Part IAB of the Crimes Act 1914. The amendments will mirror those amendments made to section 35P of the Australian Security Intelligence Organisation Act 1979, which implemented all of the recommendations made by the Independent National Security Legislation Monitor in his report on section 35P of the ASIO Act.

These amendments will introduce new elements that must be proven before an ordinary citizen can be convicted of a disclosure offence. The amendments will create two separate offence regimes. One offence regime will apply to 'entrusted persons' or persons who came to the knowledge or into the possession of information about a controlled operation in their capacity as an entrusted person. A separate offence regime will apply to all other persons, or 'outsiders'.

Under these new regimes, the disclosure of information made by members of the community, except those who received information in their capacity as an entrusted person, will only constitute an offence if the information will endanger the health or safety of a person or prejudice the effective conduct of a controlled operation.

The amendments will also establish a defence of prior publication available only to persons who did not receive the relevant information in their capacity as an entrusted person.

It is critical that law enforcement agencies have the tools and capabilities available to them to effectively combat the significant threat of organised crime in Australia and of serious and systemic corruption.

The government understands the importance of maintaining public awareness of, and confidence in, the activities of our law enforcement agencies. The decision to mirror the amendments to the ASIO Act further demonstrates our commitment to achieving the right balance between freedom of expression and our national security and law enforcement requirements.

Increasing penalties for general dishonesty offences

Schedule 4 of the bill will amend the Criminal Code to increase the maximum penalties for the general dishonesty offences from five years' imprisonment to 10 years imprisonment.

This will address inconsistencies across penalties for offences in the Criminal Code, which capture similar conduct. It will also give courts the ability to adequately sentence the full range of offending that can occur under the general dishonesty offences.

As the Commonwealth Director of Public Prosecutions pointed out in evidence to the current Senate committee inquiry into penalties for white collar crime, the general dishonesty offences in the Criminal Code cover fraudulent schemes, consisting of multiple instances of criminal activity. The current five year maximum term of imprisonment can be inadequate in these circumstances.

This amendment will allow judges to sentence appropriately, while also retaining their discretion to impose lesser penalties for less serious conduct.

Protecting vulnerable persons

The government remains committed to strengthening the protections afforded to vulnerable witnesses and complainants giving evidence in Commonwealth criminal proceedings.

To this end, the bill will amend the existing non-publication offence in section 15YR of the Crimes Act to require that a person seeking leave from the court to publish matter that is likely to identify a vulnerable person must take reasonable steps to notify parties of the original proceeding (including the vulnerable person themselves) before making the application.

This will ensure all interested parties have an opportunity to present submissions to inform the court's decision about whether to grant leave for material to be published, including on any trauma and reputational damage the vulnerable person may experience as a result.

Personal information that may be relevant for fraud and corrupt conduct

Schedule 7 of the bill amends the Crimes Act 1914to authorise sharing personal information for tackling fraud and corruption against the Commonwealth.

Schedule 7 of this bill will bolster the Commonwealth's ability to combat fraud and corruption. The government will be able to gather information from within the Commonwealth and more broadly (including from the private sector and state and territory agencies) to reduce the amount of public money lost to, and the damage inflicted by, fraud and corruption. The measures will assist Commonwealth bodies to stamp down on corrupt officials and those who are seeking to defraud the Commonwealth.

The amendments also protect privacy by limiting information sharing to circumstances that are necessary for an integrity purpose. This is similar to existing safeguards under the Privacy Act 1988. The amendments also enable guidelines on the operation of these measures to be made which require the approval of the Information Commissioner.

These amendments do not impact on secrecy requirements in other legislation. By authorising rather than compelling information sharing for Commonwealth integrity purposes, the amendments do not adversely impact on how state and territory agencies or the private sector handle personal information.

Spent convictions

Schedule 8 of the bill will amend the Commonwealth spent convictions regime under the Crimes Act 1914 to remove impediments that would prevent the Law Enforcement Conduct Commission of New South Wales from using spent convictions information to vet employees and investigate serious misconduct and corruption in particular circumstances.

Removing these impediments is necessary to give full effect to exemptions under the New South Wales spent conviction regime, which was recently amended to allow the Commission to use spent convictions information pursuant to their functions.

Conclusion

Australia's criminal justice framework is both fair and strong. But it never serves to be complacent. Where opportunities arise to fine-tune aspects of our regime, we take these up. This omnibus bill, which does a variety of separate things, is a very good example of us continuing to improve our legal framework.