Criminal Law Consolidation (Assaults on Prescribed Emergency Workers) Amendment Bill

Final Stages

The Legislative Council agreed to the bill with the amendments indicated by the following schedule, to which amendments the Legislative Council desires the concurrence of the House of Assembly:

No. 1. Clause 7, page 4, line 3 to page 5, line 35 [clause 7, inserted section 20AA]—Delete inserted section 20AA and substitute:

20AA—Causing harm to, or assaulting, certain emergency workers etc

(1) A person who causes harm to a prescribed emergency worker acting in the course of official duties, intending to cause harm, is guilty of an offence.

Maximum penalty: Imprisonment for 15 years.

(2) A person who causes harm to a prescribed emergency worker acting in the course of official duties, and is reckless in doing so, is guilty of an offence.

Maximum penalty: Imprisonment for 10 years.

(3) A person who assaults a prescribed emergency worker acting in the course of official duties is guilty of an offence.

Maximum penalty: Imprisonment for 5 years.

(4) A person who hinders or resists a police officer acting in the course of official duties, and, in so doing, causes harm to the officer, is guilty of an offence.

Maximum penalty: Imprisonment for 10 years.

(5) In proceedings for an offence against this section, it is a defence for the defendant to prove that the defendant did not know, and could not reasonably have been expected to know, that the victim was a prescribed emergency worker, or police officer, (as the case requires) acting in the course of official duties.

(6) Without limiting the ways in which a person can cause harm to a prescribed emergency worker, harm can be caused by causing human biological material to come into contact with a prescribed emergency worker.

(7) For the purposes of this section, a person causes human biological material to come into contact with a victim if the person performs any act (including, without limiting the generality of this subsection, by spitting or throwing human biological material at the victim, or deliberately applying human biological material to their person knowing that the victim is likely to come into physical contact with the person in the course of their duties) intended or likely to cause human biological material to come into contact with the victim.

(8) This section does not apply to conduct occurring before the commencement of this section.

(9) In this section—

assault means an assault within the meaning of section 20(1) and includes, to avoid doubt, an act consisting of intentionally causing human biological material to come into contact with a victim, or threatening to do so;

harm has the same meaning as in Division 7A;

human biological material means—

(a) blood, saliva, semen, faeces, urine or vomit; or

(b) any other material prescribed by the regulations;

prescribed emergency worker means—

(a) a police officer; or

(b) a prison officer; or

(c) a community corrections officer or community youth justice officer; or

(d) an employee in a training centre (within the meaning of the Youth Justice Administration Act 2016); or

(e) a person (whether a medical practitioner, nurse, security officer or otherwise) performing duties in a hospital; or

(f) a person (whether a medical practitioner, nurse, pilot or otherwise) performing duties in the course of retrieval medicine; or

(g) a medical practitioner or other health practitioner (both within the meaning of the Health Practitioner Regulation National Law (South Australia)) attending an out of hours or unscheduled callout, or assessing, stabilising or treating a person at the scene of an accident or other emergency, in a rural area; or

(h) a member of the SA Ambulance Service Inc; or

(i) a member of SAMFS, SACFS or SASES; or

(j) a law enforcement officer; or

(k) an inspector within the meaning of the Animal Welfare Act 1985; or

(l) any other person engaged in an occupation or employment prescribed by the regulations for the purposes of section 5AA(1)(ka); or

(m) any other person prescribed by the regulations for the purposes of this paragraph, whether acting in a paid or voluntary capacity, but does not include a person, or person of a class, declared by the regulations to be excluded from the ambit of this definition.

No. 2. Clause 7, page 6, line 18 and 19 [clause 7, inserted section 20AB(4), definition of human biological material]—Delete 'means blood, saliva, semen, faeces, urine or vomit' and substitute:

means—

(a) blood, saliva, semen, faeces, urine or vomit; or

(b) any other material prescribed by the regulations.

No. 3. Schedule 1, page 7, line 16 [Schedule 1, Part 1, clause 1, inserted paragraph (ab)]—After '1935' insert:

where harm is caused to a prescribed emergency worker

No. 4. Schedule 1, page 7, lines 20 to 25 [Schedule 1, Part 2, clause 2, inserted paragraph (da)]—Delete inserted paragraph (da) and substitute:

(da) to deter the defendant and others in the community from harming or assaulting prescribed emergency workers (within the meaning of section 20AA of the Criminal Law Consolidation Act 1935) acting in the course of official duties;

No. 5. Schedule 1, page 7, after line 25—Insert:

2A—Amendment of section 96—Suspension of imprisonment on defendant entering into bond

Section 96(9), definition of designated offence—after paragraph (g) insert:

(ga) an offence against section 20AA(1), (2) or (4);