Criminal Law Consolidation (Sexual Predation Offences) Amendment Bill

Second Reading

Adjourned debate on second reading.

(Continued from 19 June 2024.)

Mr BROWN (Florey) (10:43): I rise to indicate that the government will be seeking to postpone consideration of this bill and to briefly outline some of the concerns that exist with it. This bill was introduced by the member for Heysen and seeks to insert new so-called sexual predation offences into the Criminal Law Consolidation Act.

The bill creates new offences for the administration or possession, in certain circumstances, of a prescribed sexual predation drug, being Rohypnol or any other benzodiazepine, which are prescription drugs; GHB and GBL, also known as fantasy; ketamine; or any other controlled drug prescribed by regulation. The bill also criminalises the supply or administration of alcohol with intent to make another person vulnerable to sexual assault. Penalties are graded by aggravating circumstances, including the age of the victim.

The government believes that this bill is unworkable for a number of reasons, which I will outline. The conduct this bill seeks to capture is already covered by existing offences, and there is a real risk that the bill will cause difficulties and inconsistencies for SAPOL and other prosecuting authorities due to the overlap with existing legislation. In fact, even more complex elements are introduced by the bill than there are in current legislation, of which the member opposite is already so critical.

There is a significant risk that prosecuting agencies would face the same if not increased difficulties under the scheme proposed in the bill. I know this is a concern shared by the Law Society, which wrote in a letter to the member for Heysen that 'caution should be observed in the creation of overlapping offences to ensure they do not give rise to difficulties in prosecution'. The Law Society further wrote:

The Society echoes past sentiment that reforms directed to achieving a particular aim which is already covered by the existing law, may overcomplicate the prosecution of the relevant offence to such an extent that the stated purpose of the reform may be undermined. We note the likelihood of this occurring in the case of the reforms being considered, particularly against the background of a perceived lack of data underpinning the inadequacy of the current offences.

There are also a number of other concerns that have been raised with the government about this bill. Curiously, the bill introduces a concept of a 'prescribed interaction', during which certain offences can be committed, being 'an organised romantic or social interaction between two persons' and 'any other social interaction between two persons that takes place over a period of at least one hour', which seems to suggest that those offences cannot be committed during interactions that are unplanned and take place over a period of less than one hour, which quite frankly does not make much sense.

It is common to hear of reports of drink-spiking incidents occurring between strangers or where the offender and the victim did not personally interact at all but the victim's drink was spiked completely unbeknownst to them. One can also imagine the difficulties of a prosecutor trying to prove that an interaction was 'romantic'.

The government is concerned that the member's bill is unworkable. In the meantime, this government has been taking real action to prevent and respond to violence against women and taking real action to combat drink spiking. Coordinated efforts from Consumer and Business Services and the Office for Women have been undertaken to make improvements both to training for hospitality providers and to protections for victim survivors.

The government announced this year that we would be interested in releasing a discussion paper on proposed wider ranging reforms to the delivery of Responsible Service of Alcohol training to include bystander awareness and drink-spiking prevention training. The Australian Hotels Association has made bystander awareness training available to its approximately 600 members. The new training will help staff better identify and respond to sexual harassment and other unwanted behaviour so as to protect both hospitality workers and patrons—a preventative and protective measure aimed at stopping this predatory behaviour, rather than an unworkable new and unnecessary penalty for after the offending has already occurred.

This joint work alongside the AHA training component came off the back of the release of the Not So Hospitable: Sexual Harassment in the Adelaide Hospitality Industry report, published by Jamie Bucirde and the University of Melbourne. The move also follows feedback received by the equal opportunity commissioner, the United Workers Union and What Were You Wearing Australia, including consultation on the Late Night Code. The government is eager to work alongside these powerful awareness campaigns to ensure that women are protected from drink spiking and other assaults on their safety.

It also bears looking at the context upon which this legislation has been introduced and is being discussed. The government has also progressed a strong suite of legislative and other reforms to prevent and respond to domestic, family and sexual violence, including:

establishing the Royal Commission into Domestic, Family and Sexual Violence, with the commissioner, Natasha Stott Despoja AO, commencing ongoing public consultations in July and making many remote visits right now across South Australia to hear the communities' views;

introducing legislation to this house to criminalise coercive control after extensive public consultation;

passing legislation to make the experience of domestic violence a ground of discrimination, which commenced operation in September 2023;

passing legislation to provide access to 15 days' paid leave for domestic or family violence in the Public Service, which commenced operation September 2023;

passing legislation to require persons charged with serious domestic violence offences to be electronically monitored on bail;

funding Yarrow Place to conduct a research project on the extent of rape and sexual assault in South Australia to ensure we have the necessary evidence base to drive change; and

funding and establishing both a northern and a southern domestic violence prevention and recovery hub, with the southern hub, The Yellow Gate, hosting Yarrow Place to ensure sexual violence counselling services are accessible in the southern suburbs.

In conclusion, the government will be seeking to adjourn this debate pending further consideration of the significance of the concerns raised. I also take this opportunity to commend the government for its ongoing work to address drink spiking in a practical way.

Mr ODENWALDER (Elizabeth) (10:49): I move:

That the debate be adjourned.

The house divided on the motion:

Ayes 24

Noes 15

Majority 9

AYES

NOES

PAIRS

Motion thus carried; debate adjourned.