Police Ombudsman

Adjourned debate on motion of Hon. R.L. Brokenshire:

That this council—

1. Notes the recently tabled Acting Police Ombudsman's annual report;

2. Notes the strongly held concerns of the Police Association of South Australia in respect of the annual report; and

3. Challenges the aspect of the annual report which attacks the Police Association of South Australia.

(Continued from 15 November 2017.)

The Hon. A.L. McLACHLAN (17:26): In respect of this motion, the Liberal Party notes the allegations that are made in the Police Ombudsman's report, acknowledges that they are very serious and calls into question the Police Disciplinary Tribunal processes. There is a particular quote I will read to members, under the title Secrecy, where the Ombudsman says:

The PDT [Police Disciplinary Tribunal] operates in secret. There is no reason in my view why it should not be open to members of the media and members of the public. If necessary, the names of the police officers and witnesses before the tribunal could be supressed, but the proceedings otherwise reported in full, including findings and including any penalty ultimately imposed. In my view it is in the public interest for proceedings of the PDT to be heard openly. It is most unhealthy that they are not.

The Ombudsman goes on to say:

The fact that the proceedings have been heard in private for over 30 years has led to an unhealthy situation where the PDT operates as a 'closed shop'.

The Liberal Party also acknowledges the response by the Police Association of South Australia. This is in a letter dated 25 October 2017 to the Hon. Chris Picton, the Minister for Police in the other place:

The Liberal Party notes that, as the Police Ombudsman's position has now been transferred into the Office of Public Integrity, the Liberal Party wishes honourable members to note that it supports the continued access by the Office of Public Integrity to Police Disciplinary Tribunal hearings. The Liberal Party holds the Police Ombudsman, his office and his staff in the highest regard.

The Hon. T.T. NGO (17:28): I rise to indicate that the government is supporting this motion. In relation to the Police Ombudsman's report, I state from the outset that the government's recent reforms in this space with respect to police complaints, made in conjunction with the Police Association, were very substantial in nature.

Late last year, we introduced and passed the new Police Complaints and Discipline Act 2016, which came into operation in September this year. Importantly, these reforms took into account the recommendations of the Independent Commissioner Against Corruption's 2015 review into the handling of complaints regarding South Australia Police members' conduct, and instituted a streamlined process for the management of complaints, overseen by the Office for Public Integrity. The government will, of course, monitor the effectiveness of that legislative change as time passes, and will review as necessary.

As was the case with the implementation of the new act, any potential review of the new legislation in future would of course be informed by consultation with the Police Association. The government has always recognised the important role of the Police Association and the extensive work it undertakes in order to support its members. We know that unions foster a more protected and empowered workforce and that the Police Association works very hard for its members, who in turn provide a world-class standard of service to the South Australian community.

The Hon. R.L. BROKENSHIRE (17:30): I thank honourable members for their contributions to this motion that I put up. I also acknowledge my appreciation that we were able to finalise this motion today, given that I was only able to introduce it last sitting week. It is an important motion. As the Hon. Tung Ngo said, there were changes to the whole structure after recommendations from the ICAC commissioner, and for all intents and purposes Australian Conservatives, together with most of the parliament, supported those. Notwithstanding that, there were things in this report that were of huge concern to the Police Association, of huge concern to myself, and of huge concern to a lot of individual police officers and their families.

I have said on many occasions, with all the years that I have spent working with different responsibilities for police in this parliament, that unlike the rest of us, who are innocent until proven guilty, police are treated the opposite to that. When complaints are made, often those are frivolous complaints, and there are almost vendettas on certain police officers who are simply going about their work. A criminal or an offender, someone who has broken the law, does not appreciate the fact that they are then subjected to the police operations, whatever that matter is, and they put in quite frivolous complaints that can cause a lot of grief to those officers, can get out into the media and damage the name of their family and can also damage their career path.

I am strongly supportive of what the Police Association have done in their letter to the police minister and colleagues. We also have to understand that the Police Association has a job to do in representing the police officers. That is what they are there for. They are the only real representation that they get to put the other side of the story, and it would be inappropriate for a lot of those inquiries to be in the open public. I have been involved with a lot of families that have been subjected to these inquiries over many years and I have seen some pretty unfair circumstances occur, so I am pleased to see that the government is supporting this motion and I commend the motion to the house.

Motion carried.