Criminal Law Consolidation (Recruiting Children To Commit Crime) Amendment Bill

Second Reading

Mr ODENWALDER: Sir, I draw your attention to the state of the house.

A quorum having been formed:

The Hon. J.K. SZAKACS (Cheltenham—Minister for Trade and Investment, Minister for Local Government, Minister for Veterans Affairs) (11:22): I move:

That the time allotted for all stages of the bill be 60 minutes.

Motion carried.

The Hon. J.K. SZAKACS: I move:

That this bill be now read a second time.

I rise to introduce the Criminal Law Consolidation (Recruiting Children to Commit Crime) Amendment Bill 2024. The bill sets out a new criminal offence in the Criminal Law Consolidation Act 1935, referred to hereinafter as the CLCA, of adults recruiting children to commit criminal offences.

The objective of the offence is to target adults who recruit children to commit criminal offences seeking to avoid criminal culpability. Several Australian jurisdictions, including Victoria and New South Wales, have specific offences targeting the conduct of recruiting others to commit criminal offences. South Australia does not have a general offence provision dealing with adults who recruit children to engage in criminal activity and, therefore, our government has taken the decision to develop a new criminal offence in the CLCA to ensure that adults who recruit children to commit criminal offences will be subject to criminal penalties.

The new offence in the bill will apply to adults who recruit a child to commit criminal activity, a 'child' being defined as a person aged under 18 years. An 'adult' is defined as a person aged 21 years and over, or 18 years and over if they are a member of a criminal organisation. This is to ensure that the types of relationships targeted by the offence are ones where there is an element of power differential, as evidenced by a greater age gap. The exception to this is where the recruiter is a member of a criminal organisation, as there is a need for greater protection for young people from being recruited into criminal conduct by organised crime groups.

The maximum penalty will be 15 years in prison. 'Criminal activity' will be defined as a major indictable offence—which is largely in line with the position taken interstate—to ensure the offence captures recruiting for serious criminal activity only.

The offence will also provide that a person can be convicted of the recruitment offence whether or not the child actually engages in criminal activity, and whether or not the child is or can be prosecuted for, or is found guilty of, the criminal activity. This aspect is important, as it emphasises that the conduct and persons being targeted are the adults engaging in the recruiting conduct rather than the child itself who is being recruited.

This offence will help to ensure that children and young people are protected from those unscrupulous individuals who would seek to encourage them into committing criminal activity, behaviour which would certainly have an adverse impact on the child or young person. This bill should have a particular deterrent effect for those who may seek to exploit any possible change to the minimum age of criminal responsibility.

Public consultation on a discussion paper with a proposed alternative diversion model for a raised minimum age of criminal responsibility closed on 25 March 2024. As the discussion paper makes clear, the government does not have a position on what it may or may not do in relation to the issue of raising the minimum age of criminal responsibility.

This is a complicated policy area, and the submissions received during the consultation will take some time to consider. However, the bill introduced today is a sensible development in the criminal law, one that will protect the children in our community, and the community at large, from adult criminals. I commend the bill to members and seek leave to have the explanation of clauses inserted in Hansard without my reading it.

Leave granted.

Explanation of Clauses

Part 1—Preliminary

1—Short title

2—Commencement

These clauses are formal.

Part 2—Amendment of Criminal Law Consolidation Act 1935

3—Insertion of Part 7D

This clause inserts new Part 7D into the principal Act, establishing a new offence for certain adult persons to take steps to require, recruit or otherwise encourage children to commit certain serious criminal offences. The new offence carries a maximum penalty of 15 years imprisonment, or, if the serious criminal offence itself has a maximum penalty of more than 15 years imprisonment, then that higher maximum.

Mr TEAGUE (Heysen) (11:28): I rise to indicate the opposition's support for the bill, something that is well known. I refer to the debate that took place in another place back in April, and I commend the work of the Attorney in relation to the development of the legislation.

The context of the debate is well known. What we have seen, yet again, coming from the minister, is a rehearsal, word for word, of what was a relatively short contribution of the Attorney in another place—you can just read along with this. There are standing orders that permit reference to copious notes and all that sort of thing, but the relevance of debate in this place is about getting to grips with what the house is dealing with and ensuring that members who have something to contribute in this place do so with a view to adding to the debate. We have not seen that further elucidated because we have it both on the written page and in the Hansard record. The Attorney placed all of that on the record some several months ago.

To add insult to injury, it is not yet 11.30 on the first sitting morning back and we have seen the second guillotine applied by this government for no apparent reason. First, they apply a guillotine of 90 minutes to a debate that they then occupy 90 per cent of the roughly 20 minutes required for the debate after delaying the passage of that bill for months and months, then they do not pass the bill, then we are standing here on a second guillotine not half an hour in and, for no reason that is apparent to anyone on this side, we are left in this house in this sort of invidious position that we are both dealing with a fully formed rehearsal of something that is already on the public record, and then we are told that we have only moments to deal with the legislation and, if the last bill is anything to go by, we are going to see the bill adjourned. What a combination of chaos and disarray in this place.

So what is the government on about? Is it on about attention seeking when it feels that it is going to get maximum bang for the buck in the media? Is it actually on about informing the public of South Australia? Is it actually going about the task of governing? If so, treat this place and its members—and the people of South Australia—with a greater level of respect than to roll in here with your guillotines, your parliamentary tactics and then a failure even to do the work of government in legislating a bill that has support throughout the parliament.

All of the matters of substance in terms of this bill have been aired in the course of debate. It was open for the minister to have sought leave to introduce those remarks onto the house's record without reading them, as he did for the explanation of clauses. That would have at least provided some merciful relief and we would have been five or eight minutes better off. I just indicate, with that protest about the way that the business of legislating is being conducted in the house today, I certainly hope that we do not see a trend of unannounced, unwarranted, repeat guillotines coupled with the most opportunistic of scheduling of legislation in this place.

If we are serious about legislating, let's get on and do the work that we need to do productively in the interests of all South Australians. The opposition supports the bill—that is well known—and I hope that the government will see fit now to pass it.

The Hon. J.K. SZAKACS (Cheltenham—Minister for Trade and Investment, Minister for Local Government, Minister for Veterans Affairs) (11:33): I thank the member for his contribution and his support for the bill.

Bill read a second time.

Third Reading

The Hon. J.K. SZAKACS (Cheltenham—Minister for Trade and Investment, Minister for Local Government, Minister for Veterans Affairs) (11:33): I move:

That this bill be now read a third time.

Bill read a third time and passed.

Mr ODENWALDER: Sir, I reluctantly draw your attention to the state of the house.

A quorum having been formed: