Summary Offences (Biometric Identification) Amendment Bill

Second Reading

Adjourned debate on second reading (resumed on motion).

The Hon. K.L. VINCENT (16:02): I would like to speak very briefly at the second reading of the Summary offences (Biometric Identification) Amendment Bill. In so doing, I will not rehash the extensive points made by colleagues such as the Hon. Andrew McLachlan and the Hon. Mark Parnell, but I will put on the record that Dignity for Disability does have concerns about the potential implications of this bill in terms of privacy and the comprehensive information that police could end up with in relation to many people, not just those who have committed, or who are alleged to have committed, a crime.

While we support this bill going into committee, we do have these concerns and hope that the questions which we certainly have and which have already been raised by other members will be answered before it proceeds any further. We would certainly appreciate it if the relevant minister could provide answers to those questions in the committee stage so that we can decide whether or not we will support the further advancement of the bill.

The Hon. T.T. NGO (16:03): I rise to support the Summary Offences (Biometric Identification) Amendment Bill 2015. Prior to the 2010 state election, the state government announced that it was going to allocate funding to allow police to trial the use of mobile fingerprint scanners to help identify people in the field. The government has acted on this promise through the introduction of this bill.

This bill will allow the police to use the mobile fingerprint scanners in the same circumstances as when police can ask a person's name and address. The police officer must have a reasonable suspicion that the person has either committed or be about to commit an offence or be able to assist in the investigation of an offence. The scanners then match the person's fingerprints against a national database to determine if the person can be identified. This bill will be of great assistance to police as it will help ensure that criminals are unable to evade police by using false names and addressed to avoid detection. The scanners are very efficient and they allow police to identify multiple people quickly in often difficult scenarios.

To address any concerns about the retention of data that is obtained by the fingerprint scanners, the bill includes offence provisions for any person that retains or stores data for longer than necessary to use the scanner. This limits the purpose of a scanner to that of identification only. I understand that the opposition has supported the bill in the other place, and I encourage all members to do the same to ensure that these devices can begin assisting police in protecting the community without delay. With that said, I commend this bill to the chamber.

Debate adjourned on motion of Hon. J.A. Darley.