Police Complaints

The Hon. T.A. FRANKS (14:45): I seek leave to make a brief explanation before addressing a question to the Attorney-General on the administration of the Police Complaints and Discipline Act 2016.

Leave granted.

The Hon. T.A. FRANKS: As the Attorney would well know, he is assigned the Police Complaints and Discipline Act 2016. I imagine like most in this place he would also be aware that the so-called SAPOL anonymous letter, which we understand to be written by a serving officer critical of the current police commissioner, was announced by the SAPOL commissioner yesterday to be authored by a serving officer currently suspended under the Police Complaints and Discipline Act. I note also that in the act under section 45—Confidentiality, with a penalty of six months imprisonment or $2½ thousand, the provisions are:

(1) Except as required or authorised by this Act or by the Commissioner, the ICAC or the OPI, a person who is or has been engaged in the administration of this Act must not, directly or indirectly, disclose information in relation to or connected with a matter that forms or is the subject of a complaint, report, assessment or investigation under this Act.

I do know, however, that further in that particular section there is subsection (2)(c):

(2) Despite subsection (1), a person engaged in the administration of this Act may disclose information…

(c) for the performance of the functions of the Commissioner, the ICAC or the OPI under another Act…

My questions to the Attorney-General are:

1. How was police commissioner Grant Stevens yesterday able to go on ABC radio and announce that somebody had been suspended under the Police Complaints and Discipline Act despite the confidentiality provisions of that act?

2. Was this announcement subject to any formal process?

3. Was there any written direction or paperwork where the commissioner authorised himself to make this announcement on morning radio?

4. Can the Attorney please outline for the purposes of the council how this was established to be required for the performance of the functions of the commissioner in this particular case?

The Hon. K.J. MAHER (Minister for Aboriginal Affairs, Attorney-General, Minister for Industrial Relations and Public Sector) (14:48): I thank the honourable member for her important question. As she correctly points out, there are in the Police Complaints and Discipline Act 2016—as there are in a number of integrity acts that establish integrity bodies, such as the ICAC Act and the laws governing the Office for Public Integrity and also the Ombudsman—provisions about confidentiality, and for very good reason.

Many integrity bodies have quite extraordinary powers in terms of compelling the production of documents and in terms of witnesses being compelled to answer questions, and commensurate with those powers there are protections in place particularly to make sure that reputations are not unnecessarily tarnished in the course of investigations.

I think, as the honourable member pointed out, one of the people who can authorise the release of information under the police complaints process is the police commissioner themselves. I do not have any information about what the process is to do that, but I am happy to take that question on notice and seek a reply from the police commissioner in relation to the matters the honourable member has raised.