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House of Assembly - Fifty-Third Parliament, Second Session (53-2)
2017-07-05 Daily Xml
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Bills

Statutes Amendment (Youths Sentenced as Adults) Bill

Introduction and First Reading

The Hon. J.R. RAU (Enfield—Deputy Premier, Attorney-General, Minister for Justice Reform, Minister for Planning, Minister for Industrial Relations, Minister for Child Protection Reform, Minister for the Public Sector, Minister for Consumer and Business Services, Minister for the City of Adelaide) (15:44): Obtained leave and introduced a bill for an act to amend the Young Offenders Act 1993; the Criminal Law (Sentencing) Act 1988; and the Sentencing Act. Read a first time.

Second Reading

The Hon. J.R. RAU (Enfield—Deputy Premier, Attorney-General, Minister for Justice Reform, Minister for Planning, Minister for Industrial Relations, Minister for Child Protection Reform, Minister for the Public Sector, Minister for Consumer and Business Services, Minister for the City of Adelaide) (15:44): I move:

That this bill be now read a second time.

The Statutes Amendment (Youths Sentenced as Adults) Bill 2017 inserts a new provision in the Young Offenders Act to provide that, if a sanction is being imposed on a youth who is being dealt with as an adult, then the paramount consideration of the court when deciding the sentence must be to protect the safety of the community. The new provision also states that this paramount consideration outweighs any other consideration, object or policy, including the need to rehabilitate the youth and, in addition, regard must also be had to the deterrent effect any proposed sanction may have on other youths. The new provision also outweighs the usual statutory object in sentencing young offenders to 'secure for youths who offend against the criminal law the care, correction and guidance necessary for their development into responsible and useful members of the community and the proper realisation of their potential.'

The bill responds to community concern over the perceived inadequacy of sentences imposed on young offenders who have committed grave offences and are to be dealt with as an adult offender and the underlying principles to be applied during sentencing. I share the community concerns. The bill provides that when a young offender's crimes are so grave so as to warrant them being treated in sentencing like an adult, then the usual considerations, objects or policies that apply to sentencing a young offender are set aside, and community safety and public protection become paramount. The bill mirrors the Sentencing Bill 2017 now before parliament that the general paramount consideration in sentencing should be the safety of the community. I seek leave to insert the remainder of the second reading explanation in Hansard without my reading it.

Leave granted.

The Bill also amends section 31A(a1) the Criminal Law (Sentencing) Act 1988.

Section 31A(a1) states that a number of provisions do not apply in relation to a youth (whether or not the youth is sentenced as an adult or is sentenced to detention to be served in a prison or is otherwise transferred to or ordered to serve a period of detention in a prison), being sections 32(5)(ab), 32(5)(ba), 32(5a) and 32A.

The Bill amends section 31A(a1) so that these provisions do apply to a young person sentenced as an adult.

As a result, for a young person sentenced as an adult for murder, the requirement in section 32(5)(ab) to set a mandatory minimum non-parole requirements for murder of 20 years will be applied to a youth sentenced as an adult. In addition, for a young person being sentenced as an adult for serious offences against the person, the mandatory minimum non-parole period of four-fifths the length of the sentence as required in section 32(5)(ba) must be applied.

The Bill will also amend section 46(1) of the Sentencing Act 2017 (once it commences) to mirror these same changes.

The Bill represents a shift in how a young person is sentenced. We have recently seen the court declare that even when sentencing a young person as an adult, the court continues to be bound by the principles set out in section 3 of the Young Offenders Act.

The rationale behind this reform is that the most serious young offenders should not receive the benefit of the rehabilitative focus of section 3 of the Young Offenders Act in sentencing. In short, they lost this right when they chose to commit such serious offences.

This reform is not aimed at the typical young offender but rather at enhancing public protection from the very small group of serious young offenders, whose offending is so bad they are to be sentenced as adult offenders and whose offending is so bad they should not receive the mitigating benefit of the usual rehabilitative focus of section 3 of the Act in sentencing.

I commend the Bill to Members.

Explanation of Clauses

Part 1—Preliminary

1—Short title

2—Commencement

3—Amendment provisions

These clauses are formal.

Part 2—Amendment of Young Offenders Act 1993

4—Amendment of section 3—Objects and statutory policies

Section 3 of the Young Offenders Act 1993 (the YOA) sets out the objects and statutory policies of that Act. The object is to 'secure for youths who offend against the criminal law the care, correction and guidance necessary for their development into responsible and useful members of the community and the proper realisation of their potential', and the powers conferred by the YOA are to be directed towards that object with proper regard to the statutory policies set out therein. The intent of the proposed amendment would be to displace the principle that primacy is to be given to the object of the Act and the statutory principles, and to rehabilitation, when sentencing a youth who is being dealt with as an adult. Rather, the paramount consideration of the court when determining sentence for a youth who is being dealt with as an adult must be to protect the safety of the community. The amendment provides that the paramount consideration outweighs any other consideration, object or statutory principle, including the need to rehabilitate the youth.

Part 3—Amendment of Criminal Law (Sentencing) Act 1988

5—Amendment of section 31A—Application of Division to youths

The proposed amendment to section 31A is consequential on the amendment to the YOA.

Part 4—Amendment of Sentencing Act 2017

6—Amendment of section 46—Application of Division to youths

Section 46 of the Sentencing Act 2017 mirrors section 31A of the Criminal Law (Sentencing) Act 1988 and is necessary because, in due course, the Sentencing Act 2017 will repeal the Criminal Law (Sentencing) Act 1988.

Schedule 1—Transitional provision

1—Transitional provision

The transitional provision makes it clear that the amendments to the Young Offenders Act 1993 effected by Part 2 of this measure apply to a youth who is being sentenced as an adult after the day on which Part 2 of this measure commences, whether the offence in respect of which the youth is being sentenced occurred before or after that day.

Debate adjourned on motion of Mr Gardner.

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