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Legislative Council - Fifty-Fourth Parliament, Second Session (54-2)
2020-09-08 Daily Xml
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Answers to Questions

South Eastern Freeway Expiation Notices

6 The Hon. F. PANGALLO (22 July 2020). Can the Minister for Police, Emergency Services and Correctional Services advise:

1. What was the wording on the proforma expiation notices issued in regard to SE Freeway offences prior to August 2019?

2. What was the reason for changing the wording of the proforma expiation notices in August 2019 to include the following: 'payment of a truck/bus speeding offence occurring on a prescribed road as the driver will result in a licence disqualification'.

3. Was the reason for changing the wording because of a defect of the wording in the pre-August 2019 expiation notice?

4. Was this based on legal advice and, if so, what was that advice?

5. Why was the advice that 'payment of a truck/bus speeding offence occurring on a prescribed road as the driver will result in a licence disqualification' not included in expiation notices when the legislation commenced in May 2019?

6. Why was this done after the media drew attention to the fact that people were paying the fines without any notification that there would be a licence disqualification?

7. Why was the police commissioner previously unaware that he had the discretion to ask the Registrar of Motor Vehicles not to issue a notice of disqualification for a first offence, or to dismiss the matter completely?

8. How has the police commissioner announced or made this discretionary power known to the public, the legal profession and the police?

9. On how many occasions has the commissioner exercised this discretionary power (which he describes as a 'request power')?

10. What was the nature of each of the matters in which the police commissioner exercised his discretion or 'request power'?

11. Under what circumstances would the police commissioner exercise the 'request power'?

12. What factors would be taken into consideration by the police commissioner in the exercise of the discretion or 'request power'?

13. Are there legislated prerequisites that the police commissioner must take into account in exercising his discretion or 'request power'?

14. What is the time within which the commissioner is required to respond to a request from those issued with an expiation notice under the SE Freeway offences and other traffic offences, made to him to exercise his discretion or 'request power'?

15. Does the commissioner have a policy requiring correspondence to be addressed within a certain timeframe? If so, what is that time frame?

16. Why did the commissioner take up to five months to acknowledge or respond to requests from those issued with expiation notices?

17. Has the commissioner breached the Code of Conduct No. 3, Conduct prejudicial to SA Police contained in the Police Complaints and Discipline Regulations 2017, by taking five months to acknowledge requests?

The Hon. R.I. LUCAS (Treasurer): The Minister for Police, Emergency Services and Correctional Services has provided the following advice:

1. Prior to August 2019 the red banner on the front of the camera expiation notice form contained the following text:

DEMERIT POINTS MAY APPLY–SEE REVERSE

Do not pay this notice if you are submitting a Statutory Declaration nominating the driver and have a defence to the allegation.

On 16 September 2019 it was changed to:

DEMERIT POINTS OR LICENCE DISQUALIFICATION MAY APPLY–SEE REVERSE

Do not pay this notice if you are submitting a Statutory Declaration nominating the driver and have a defence to the allegation.

Prior to August 2019 a paragraph on the rear of the expiation notice form had the following text:

Demerit Points

Demerit points may apply. For more information contact Service SA on 13 10 84.

On 16 September 2019 it was changed to:

Demerit Points and Licence Disqualification

Demerit points and licence disqualification may apply. Payment of a truck/bus speeding offence occurring on a prescribed road as the driver will result in a licence disqualification. For more information contact Service SA on 13 10 84 or online at: www.sa.gov.au

2. The text changed in September 2019. Although there was no legal requirement to alter the text on the camera expiation notice, in light of the heavy penalties that applied for truck/bus speeding offences and the media attention that the offences were receiving, it was prudent to provide more information to alleged offenders.

3. No.

4. No.

5. Owners and drivers of trucks with five axles or more had to comply with the 60 km/h speed limit (unless a 40 km/h speed limit applied) since May 2011. Owners and drivers of trucks and buses had to comply with the 60 km/h speed limit (unless a 40 km/h speed limit applied) since 1 September 2014.

The cameras were upgraded and commencing 2 April 2019 all trucks and buses detected speeding were issued expiation notices.

The higher penalty provisions commenced on 1 May 2019 and there was an extensive community awareness campaign undertaken by the Department of Planning, Transport and Infrastructure (as it was at the time) prior to that date.

It has remained an offence for trucks and buses to exceed the 60 km/h speed limit since 2014 (2011 for trucks with five axles or more). The road has been signposted accordingly.

A disqualification warning on the expiation notice was not legally required. The offences (in a slightly different form) had been in existence for some time.

6. Although there was media attention relating to the new provisions, providing more information to the public on the potential outcome should the notice be expiated was the primary reason the notice was altered.

The expiation notice form has been amended over time to provide additional or different information to the public. Occasionally the form will be altered and provide different information. An example of this was in 2016 when the payment methods were altered on the front of the notice where phone payments were changed from the Department of Planning, Transport and Infrastructure (as it was at the time) to Service SA.

7. The authority for the Commissioner of Police to write to the Registrar of Motor Vehicles to request a notice of disqualification not be issued was contained within Statutes Amendment (Vehicles Inspections and South Eastern Freeway Offences) Bill 2017.

This bill was introduced in to the House of Assembly on 9 August 2017 and passed with no amendments and subsequently introduced in to the Legislative Council on 18 October 2017. It was passed on 16 November 2017, again without amendments.

The Statutes Amendment (Vehicles Inspections and South Eastern Freeway Offences) Act 2017 commenced operation on 1 May 2019.

Section 19(1) of the Police Act 1998 enables the Commissioner of Police, by instrument in writing, to delegate any powers or functions conferred on the Commissioner of Police by any act.

The legislation providing the commissioner with the authority to write to the registrar was passed in 2017 and the commissioner was not aware this authority had come into effect when the bill became operational after a period of approximately 18 months in May 2019. The commissioner has since delegated this power to the manager of SAPOL's Expiation Notice Branch.

8. There is no requirement for the Commissioner of Police to notify the public.

9. The commissioner has not exercised the power to write to the Registrar of Motor Vehicles. The power has been delegated to the manager, SAPOL's Expiation Notice Branch. The manager has exercised the discretion on 23 occasions but has decided not to write to the registrar on any one of those occasions.

10. The offences were all truck and bus speeding offences.

11. There are no defined circumstances. This would be reviewed on case by case basis.

12. There is no defined time frame. This would vary on case by case basis.

13. Yes. The commissioner must take into account the transitional provisions in the Statues Amendment (South Eastern Freeway Offences) Act 2019 and the legislation as it existed on the date of the offence.

14. There is no legal time frame in which the commissioner is required to respond to a request to write to the Registrar of Motor Vehicles to not impose a licence disqualification for a South Eastern Freeway offence.

15. No.

16. Legal advice had to be obtained before the requests could be properly determined.

17. No.

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