SPENT CONVICTIONS

The Hon. R.D. LAWSON (15:30): I seek leave to make a brief explanation before asking the minister representing the Attorney-General a question on the subject of spent convictions legislation.

Leave granted.

The Hon. R.D. LAWSON: Members will be aware that in another place the Hon. Bob Such has, over the years, introduced a number of bills for the introduction into South Australia of spent convictions legislation, and he has strongly advocated for that form of legislation in parliament and elsewhere. He introduced a bill in 2003, and I note that on 9 May 2003—at about 11 minutes past 11 in the evening—the Attorney-General (in one of his then regular conversations with Bob Francis on Radio FIVEaa) expressed a view that appeared to be sympathetic to that of the former attorney-general, Trevor Griffin. He said:

Trevor quite rightly said that if we introduce such a system it would be a system of organised lying…whereby the government would deny that people had convictions when they did…

So, in May 2003, the Attorney-General was expressing views that were somewhat antipathetic to spent convictions legislation. In the first half of 2004, the Hon. Dr Such introduced yet another bill and the Attorney-General responded (once again, appearing on radio, including Bob Francis' show) by expressing some reservation but also expressing sympathy for the proposition that such legislation be introduced. He said:

…when I became Attorney-General…I found out that if you go to court and you are found guilty of a minor offence and then the magistrate says, 'You've been a good straight person all your life and this is comparatively trivial offending, what I will do is I will find you guilty, but no conviction recorded'…people leave the court and they think, 'Good, I'm over that,' but in fact it does go on your record.

Then the Attorney says, 'That does not seem fair to me.' That was the position he expressed in 2004 arising out of what he had learnt since he became Attorney-General. In other statements he said that he was aware, in the years when he was minister of consumer affairs, of the case of a man seeking a licence. He had been convicted of carnal knowledge some 40 years ago and was not eligible for the particular licence by reason of that conviction, which was still on his record.

In the first half of 2004, the Hon. Bob Such introduced yet another bill and the Attorney-General issued a discussion paper saying that he was seeking views by 30 June 2004—now four years ago.

The PRESIDENT: The honourable member will complete his question.

The Hon. R.D. LAWSON: Yes, sir. That was issued four years ago and yet no legislation has been produced. In the same year, the Attorney-General told Andrew Rimer's program, on Radio FIVEaa, at three minutes past midnight, that South Australia Police already operate a system whereby administratively, if employers are looking for a criminal record in respect of a potential employee, if the conviction is more than 10 years old and it is not relevant, it will not be released. That is a sensible thing, he said, for the police to do. My questions are:

1. When will the government introduce legislation which the Attorney-General has been suggesting he will introduce (and expressing sympathy for those who are the victims of the absence of this legislation)?

2. What is the justification for the government's delay in introducing legislation at this time?

3. Has the practice which the Attorney-General referred to in May of 2004 (whereby the police informally operate a system of expunging criminal records about employees) persisted, and what is the justification for it?

The Hon. P. HOLLOWAY (Minister for Mineral Resources Development, Minister for Urban Development and Planning, Minister for Small Business) (15:35): I thank the honourable member for his detailed questions, which I will refer to my colleague in another place.