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Legislative Council - Fifty-Fifth Parliament, First Session (55-1)
2024-04-11 Daily Xml
Contents
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Bills

Criminal Law Consolidation (Recruiting Children To Commit Crime) Amendment Bill

Introduction and First Reading

The Hon. K.J. MAHER (Minister for Aboriginal Affairs, Attorney-General, Minister for Industrial Relations and Public Sector) (15:24): Obtained leave and introduced a bill for an act to amend the Criminal Law Consolidation Act 1935. Read a first time.

Second Reading

The Hon. K.J. MAHER (Minister for Aboriginal Affairs, Attorney-General, Minister for Industrial Relations and Public Sector) (15:25): I move:

That this bill be now read a second time.

The bill I introduce today is the Criminal Law Consolidation (Recruiting Children to Commit Crime) Amendment Bill 2024. The bill sets out a new criminal offence in the Criminal Law Consolidation Act 1935 (the CLCA) of adults recruiting children to commit criminal offences. The objective of the offence is to target adults who recruit children to commit criminal offences seeking to avoid criminal culpability.

Several Australian jurisdictions, including Victoria and New South Wales, have specific offences targeting the conduct of recruiting others to commit criminal offences. South Australia does not have a general offence provision dealing with adults who recruit children to engage in criminal activity, therefore the government has taken the decision to develop a new criminal offence in the CLCA to ensure that adults who recruit children to commit criminal offences will be subject to criminal penalties.

The new offence in the bill will apply to adults who recruit a child to commit a criminal activity, a child being defined as a person under the age of 18 years. 'Adult' is defined as a person aged 21 and over or 18 years and over if they are a member of a criminal organisation. This is to ensure that the type of relationship that is targeted by the offence is one where there is an element of power differential as evidenced by a greater age gap. The exception to this is where the recruiter is a member of a criminal organisation, as there is a need for greater protection for young people from being recruited into criminal conduct by organised crime groups. The maximum penalty will be 15 years' imprisonment.

'Criminal activity' will be defined as a major indictable offence, which is largely in line with the positions taken interstate to ensure the offence captures recruiting for serious criminal activity. The offence will also provide that a person can be convicted of the recruitment offence whether or not the child actually engages in the criminal activity and whether or not the child can be prosecuted for or is found guilty of the criminal activity. This aspect is important because it emphasises that the conduct and the persons being targeted are the adults engaging in the recruiting conduct rather than the child who is being recruited.

The offence will help ensure that children and young people are protected from those unscrupulous individuals who would seek to encourage them into committing criminal activity, behaviour that would certainly have an adverse impact on the child or young person. This bill should have a particular deterrent effect for those who may seek to exploit any possible change, for example, to the minimum age of criminal responsibility.

Public consultation and a discussion paper with a proposed alternative diversion model for a raised age of criminal responsibility closed on 25 March this year. As the discussion paper makes clear, the government does not have a position on what it may or may not do in relation to the issue. This is a complicated policy area, and the submissions received during the consultation will take a reasonable amount of time to consider. However, the bill I introduce today is a sensible development in the criminal law and one that will protect children in our community and the community at large from adult criminals. I commend the bill to members and seek leave to insert the explanation of clauses in Hansard without my reading it.

Leave granted.

Explanation of Clauses

Part 1—Preliminary

1—Short title

2—Commencement

These clauses are formal.

Part 2—Amendment of Criminal Law Consolidation Act 1935

3—Insertion of Part 7D

This clause inserts new Part 7D into the principal Act, establishing a new offence for certain adult persons to take steps to require, recruit or otherwise encourage children to commit certain serious criminal offences. The new offence carries a maximum penalty of 15 years imprisonment, or, if the serious criminal offence itself has a maximum penalty of more than 15 years imprisonment, then that higher maximum.

Debate adjourned on motion of Hon. L.A. Henderson.

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