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This is a Bill, not an Act. For current law, see the Acts databases.
New South Wales
Child Protection Legislation
(Registrable Persons) Amendment Bill
2009
Contents
Page
1 Name of Act 2
2 Commencement 2
Schedule 1 Amendment of Child Protection (Offenders Registration)
Act 2000 No 42 3
Schedule 2 Amendment of Child Protection (Offenders Prohibition
Orders) Act 2004 No 46 7
b2009-135-19.d15
New South Wales
Child Protection Legislation
(Registrable Persons) Amendment Bill
2009
No , 2009
A Bill for
An Act to amend the Child Protection (Offenders Registration) Act 2000 and the
Child Protection (Offenders Prohibition Orders) Act 2004 to make further provision
with respect to registrable persons.
Clause 1 Child Protection Legislation (Registrable Persons) Amendment Bill 2009
The Legislature of New South Wales enacts: 1
1 Name of Act 2
This Act is the Child Protection Legislation (Registrable Persons) 3
Amendment Act 2009. 4
2 Commencement 5
(1) This Act commences on the date of assent to this Act, except as 6
provided by subsection (2). 7
(2) Schedule 1 [1]-[3] commence on a day to be appointed by 8
proclamation. 9
Page 2
Child Protection Legislation (Registrable Persons) Amendment Bill 2009
Amendment of Child Protection (Offenders Registration) Act 2000 No 42 Schedule 1
Schedule 1 Amendment of Child Protection 1
(Offenders Registration) Act 2000 No 42 2
[1] Section 9 Relevant personal information to be reported 3
Omit "ages" from section 9 (1) (e). Insert instead "dates of birth". 4
[2] Section 11 Registrable person must report changes to relevant personal 5
information 6
Omit "3 days" from section 11 (1) (a). Insert instead "24 hours". 7
[3] Section 11F 8
Insert after section 11E: 9
11F Intended change of place where registrable person generally 10
resides 11
(1) This section applies if a registrable person intends to change the 12
place where the registrable person generally resides. 13
Note. This section imposes an additional reporting requirement with 14
respect to residence to that imposed under section 11 (1) (b), which 15
requires a registrable person to report actual (as opposed to intended) 16
changes in the place where the person generally resides. 17
(2) At least 14 days before changing the place, the registrable person 18
must report the intended change to the Commissioner of Police 19
and must provide details of: 20
(a) the address where the person proposes to generally reside, 21
or 22
(b) if the person does not intend to reside at particular 23
premises--the name of the locality of the place where the 24
person intends to generally reside. 25
(3) If a change in the place at which a person generally resides occurs 26
because of an emergency or other exceptional circumstances 27
arise making it impracticable for the registrable person to report 28
the intended change, it is sufficient compliance with subsection 29
(2) if the registrable person: 30
(a) reports the required information to the Commissioner of 31
Police as soon as practicable (but not more than 3 days) 32
after the change occurs, and 33
(b) provides satisfactory evidence of the circumstances which 34
made it impracticable to report the required information 35
sooner to the Commissioner of Police. 36
Page 3
Child Protection Legislation (Registrable Persons) Amendment Bill 2009
Schedule 1 Amendment of Child Protection (Offenders Registration) Act 2000 No 42
(4) A registrable person who reports an intended change of place 1
under this section and who subsequently changes the place where 2
he or she generally resides to the place detailed in the report is not 3
required to comply with the reporting obligations imposed by 4
section 11 with respect to that change of place. 5
(5) A registrable person who reports an intended change and does not 6
make the change within 14 days after it is reported must report 7
this fact to the Commissioner of Police within 3 days after the end 8
of that 14-day period. 9
[4] Section 15 Suspension and extension of reporting obligations 10
Insert after section 15 (2): 11
(3) The period for which a registrable person's reporting obligations 12
continue is extended by the length of time for which those 13
obligations are suspended from time to time under subsection (1) 14
(b) if, during the time in which the obligations are suspended, the 15
registrable person: 16
(a) is travelling outside Australia for one month or more or is 17
resident outside Australia, and 18
(b) is not required to report under any corresponding Act. 19
[5] Section 16 ADT may exempt persons from compliance with reporting 20
obligations 21
Omit section 16 (1). Insert instead: 22
(1) This section applies to a registrable person: 23
(a) who is required to continue to comply with the reporting 24
obligations imposed by this Part for the remainder of his or 25
her life, or 26
(b) whose reporting period has been extended under section 27
15 (3) (whether or not he or she is a person referred to in 28
paragraph (a)). 29
[6] Section 16 (2) 30
Insert "(in the case of a registrable person referred to in subsection (1) (a))" 31
after "If". 32
[7] Section 16 (3) 33
Omit "an eligible registrable person". 34
Insert instead "a registrable person referred to in subsection (2)". 35
Page 4
Child Protection Legislation (Registrable Persons) Amendment Bill 2009
Amendment of Child Protection (Offenders Registration) Act 2000 No 42 Schedule 1
[8] Section 16 (3A) 1
Insert after section 16 (3): 2
(3A) On the application of a registrable person referred to in 3
subsection (1) (b), the Administrative Decisions Tribunal may 4
make an order suspending the registrable person's reporting 5
obligations for the length of time by which the registrable 6
person's reporting period was extended under section 15 (3). 7
[9] Section 19BA Exemption of certain agencies from privacy protection 8
legislation 9
Insert after section 19BA (3): 10
(3A) For the purposes of avoiding an adverse impact or for developing 11
or giving effect to a case management plan for a registrable 12
person as referred to in subsection (3), the Commissioner of 13
Police may, by written notice served on a scheduled agency, 14
direct the scheduled agency to provide to the Commissioner 15
personal information about the registrable person collected or 16
used by the scheduled agency of the kind described in the notice. 17
(3B) The scheduled agency is authorised to disclose, and must 18
disclose, the personal information about the registrable person to 19
the Commissioner of Police. 20
(3C) The provision of information under this section in good faith: 21
(a) does not give rise to any liability to civil, criminal or 22
disciplinary action, and 23
(b) is not a breach of professional etiquette or ethics or a 24
departure from accepted standards of professional 25
conduct. 26
[10] Schedule 2 Savings, transitional and other provisions 27
Insert at the end of clause 1 (1): 28
Child Protection Legislation (Registrable Persons) Amendment 29
Act 2009 30
Page 5
Child Protection Legislation (Registrable Persons) Amendment Bill 2009
Schedule 1 Amendment of Child Protection (Offenders Registration) Act 2000 No 42
[11] Schedule 2, Part 7 1
Insert after Part 6: 2
Part 7 Provisions consequent on enactment of 3
Child Protection Legislation (Registrable 4
Persons) Amendment Act 2009 5
19 Reporting requirements 6
(1) In this clause: 7
amending Act means the Child Protection Legislation 8
(Registrable Persons) Amendment Act 2009. 9
new reporting obligation means any information required to be 10
provided by registrable persons under section 9 (1) (e) or 11F (as 11
amended and inserted, respectively, by the amending Act). 12
(2) It is sufficient compliance with a new reporting obligation to 13
report the date of birth of a child if a registrable person who has 14
reported the name and age of a child before the commencement 15
of the amendment to section 9 (1) (e) made by the amending Act 16
reports the date of birth of the child when the registrable person 17
next reports in accordance with this Act after the commencement 18
of the amendment. 19
(3) It is sufficient compliance with a new reporting obligation for a 20
registrable person who changes the place where he or she 21
generally resides within 14 days before the insertion of section 22
11F by the amending Act if the person reports the required 23
information to the Commissioner of Police as soon as possible 24
(but not more than 3 days) after the insertion of that section. 25
(4) Section 19BA (3A)-(3C), as inserted by the amending Act, 26
extend to personal information collected or used before the 27
insertion of those subsections. 28
Page 6
Child Protection Legislation (Registrable Persons) Amendment Bill 2009
Amendment of Child Protection (Offenders Prohibition Orders) Act 2004 No Schedule 2
46
Schedule 2 Amendment of Child Protection 1
(Offenders Prohibition Orders) Act 2004 2
No 46 3
[1] Section 3 Definitions 4
Insert in alphabetical order in section 3 (1): 5
contact prohibition order means a contact prohibition order 6
made under section 16C. 7
[2] Section 15 Appeal does not stay order 8
Transfer section 15 to Part 3 and insert it (renumbered as section 17A) after 9
section 17. 10
[3] Part 2A 11
Insert after Part 2: 12
Part 2A Contact prohibition orders 13
16A Definitions 14
In this Part: 15
contact means to communicate in person or by any other means 16
(including by post, facsimile, telephone and email or any other 17
form of electronic communication). 18
contact prohibition order means an order prohibiting a person 19
who is a registrable person in relation to a particular registrable 20
offence from contacting: 21
(a) any victim of the registrable offence who is specified in the 22
order, or 23
(b) any person who was a co-offender in relation to that 24
registrable offence who is specified in the order. 25
16B Commissioner of Police may apply for orders 26
An application may be made by the Commissioner of Police to 27
the Local Court for a contact prohibition order against a 28
registrable person if: 29
(a) the Commissioner has reasonable grounds to suspect that 30
the registrable person will seek to contact the victim or 31
co-offender concerned, and 32
Page 7
Child Protection Legislation (Registrable Persons) Amendment Bill 2009
Schedule 2 Amendment of Child Protection (Offenders Prohibition Orders) Act 2004 No
46
(b) the registrable person is not subject to, and the 1
Commissioner considers contact cannot be prevented by 2
the making of, any of the following: 3
(i) an extended supervision order under the Crimes 4
(Serious Sex Offenders) Act 2006, 5
(ii) a prohibition order under this Act, 6
(iii) any court order prescribed by the regulations, and 7
(c) the Commissioner is satisfied that there are sufficient 8
grounds to justify the making of the application. 9
Note. Part 4 of the Local Court Act 2007 sets out the procedures for the 10
making and hearing of applications and confers rights of appeal against 11
the granting of contact prohibition orders. 12
16C Local Court may make contact prohibition order 13
(1) The Local Court may make a contact prohibition order if it is 14
satisfied that there are sufficient grounds for making the order. 15
(2) The Local Court must specify the term (not exceeding 16
12 months) of the contact prohibition order. 17
(3) A contact prohibition order takes effect: 18
(a) when the order is made, or 19
(b) if it is stayed under section 17A by a court to which an 20
appeal is made but is confirmed on appeal (whether 21
expressly or impliedly)--when it is confirmed. 22
(4) This section does not limit the kinds of prohibition or restriction 23
that may be imposed on a registrable person by means of any 24
other order or direction under this Act. 25
16D Contact prohibition order not to restrict certain contacts 26
(1) The persons specified in a contact prohibition order as persons 27
the registrable person must not contact may not include any 28
member of the registrable person's close family. 29
(2) Despite subsection (1), a member of the registrable person's 30
close family may be specified in a contact prohibition order if, 31
and only if, the Local Court considers that the following 32
exceptional circumstances exist: 33
(a) if the member of the family concerned was a victim of the 34
registrable offence committed by the registrable person-- 35
it would be contrary to the best interests of the victim for 36
contact to occur, 37
Page 8
Child Protection Legislation (Registrable Persons) Amendment Bill 2009
Amendment of Child Protection (Offenders Prohibition Orders) Act 2004 No Schedule 2
46
(b) if the member of the family concerned was a co-offender 1
in relation to the registrable offence committed by the 2
registrable person--there is reasonable cause to believe 3
(having regard to the ongoing nature and pattern of 4
criminal activity of the registrable person) that there is a 5
risk that contact could result in the registrable person being 6
involved with the co-offender in the commission of a 7
further registrable offence. 8
(3) In determining the best interests of a victim under subsection 9
(2) (a), the Local Court may take into account any wishes 10
expressed by the victim. 11
(4) The Local Court must make a record of its reasons for making an 12
order under subsection (2). 13
(5) The failure of the Local Court to comply with subsection (4) does 14
not invalidate the order. 15
(6) In this section, a registrable person's close family includes: 16
(a) the registrable person's spouse, de facto or same-sex 17
partner, and 18
(b) the registrable person's parents, step-parents and 19
grandparents, and 20
(c) the registrable person's children, step-children and 21
grandchildren, and 22
(d) the registrable person's brothers and sisters, and 23
step-brothers and step-sisters, and 24
(e) the registrable person's guardians or carers, and 25
(f) in the case of a registrable person who is an Aboriginal 26
person or a Torres Strait Islander--persons who are or 27
have been part of the extended family or kin of the 28
registrable person according to the indigenous kinship 29
system of the registrable person's culture. 30
16E Variation or revocation of contact prohibition orders 31
(1) An application may be made to the Local Court by the 32
Commissioner of Police or a person subject to a contact 33
prohibition order for an order varying or revoking a contact 34
prohibition order. 35
Page 9
Child Protection Legislation (Registrable Persons) Amendment Bill 2009
Schedule 2 Amendment of Child Protection (Offenders Prohibition Orders) Act 2004 No
46
(2) The application must be accompanied by a copy of the relevant 1
order, together with any variations to it that have been made 2
under this Part. 3
(3) A person subject to a contact prohibition order may not make an 4
application except by leave of the Local Court. Leave may be 5
granted only if the Local Court is satisfied that, having regard to 6
changes in the applicant's circumstances since the order was 7
made or last varied, it is in the interests of justice that leave be 8
granted. 9
(4) The Local Court may dispose of the application: 10
(a) by varying or revoking the contact prohibition order, or 11
(b) by dismissing the application. 12
(5) For the purposes of an application under this section, the 13
respondent to an application is: 14
(a) in the case of an application made by the Commissioner of 15
Police--the registrable person subject to the contact 16
prohibition order, and 17
(b) in the case of an application made by a registrable person 18
subject to a contact prohibition order--the Commissioner 19
of Police. 20
16F Explanation of orders 21
(1) If the Local Court makes a contact prohibition order, the Local 22
Court must ensure that all reasonable steps are taken to explain to 23
the registrable person (in language that the registrable person can 24
readily understand): 25
(a) the person's obligations under the order, and 26
(b) the consequences that may follow if the person fails to 27
comply with those obligations. 28
(2) An order is not invalidated by a failure to comply with 29
subsection (1). 30
16G Contravention of contact prohibition order 31
(1) A registrable person who is subject to a contact prohibition order 32
must not, without reasonable excuse: 33
(a) contact or attempt to contact any victim or co-offender 34
specified in the order, or 35
Page 10
Child Protection Legislation (Registrable Persons) Amendment Bill 2009
Amendment of Child Protection (Offenders Prohibition Orders) Act 2004 No Schedule 2
46
(b) procure another person to contact or attempt to contact that 1
victim or co-offender. 2
Maximum penalty: 50 penalty units or imprisonment for 3
12 months, or both. 4
(2) Without limiting subsection (1), it is a reasonable excuse for 5
contacting a person in contravention of a contact prohibition 6
order if: 7
(a) the registrable person did so in compliance with an order 8
of a court, or 9
(b) having contacted the person unintentionally, the 10
registrable person immediately terminated the contact, or 11
(c) contact is made with a co-offender while the registrable 12
person was in strict government custody within the 13
meaning of the Child Protection (Offenders Registration 14
Act) 2000. 15
(3) A police officer may, without a warrant, arrest a person if the 16
police officer suspects on reasonable grounds that the person has 17
committed an offence under this section. 18
(4) This section extends to an act contravening this section done 19
outside Australia by a person resident or domiciled in the State. 20
16H Applications not to be determined in public 21
(1) Proceedings for an application under this Part must be heard in 22
the absence of the public. 23
(2) Despite subsection (1), the Local Court hearing the proceedings 24
may, if it considers it to be appropriate, permit persons who are 25
not parties to the proceedings or their legal or other 26
representatives to be present during the hearing of the 27
proceedings. 28
[4] Section 17 Applications for orders against young registrable persons 29
Insert "or contact prohibition order" after "prohibition order" wherever 30
occurring. 31
Page 11
Child Protection Legislation (Registrable Persons) Amendment Bill 2009
Schedule 2 Amendment of Child Protection (Offenders Prohibition Orders) Act 2004 No
46
[5] Schedule 2 Savings and transitional provisions 1
Insert after clause 2: 2
3 Contact prohibition orders 3
Part 2A applies to or in respect of a person who was a registrable 4
person immediately before the insertion of that Part. 5
Page 12
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