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Legislative Council - Fifty-Fifth Parliament, First Session (55-1)
2024-11-26 Daily Xml
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Police Complaints and Discipline Act

The Hon. T.A. FRANKS (15:59): I seek leave to make a brief explanation before addressing a question to the Attorney-General on the workings of the Police Complaints and Discipline Act.

Leave granted.

The Hon. T.A. FRANKS: As was well publicised last week, an Aboriginal man in the Davenport community was charged with, I believe, hinder police, while footage of that man was broadcast not only on many TV stations but tens of thousands of times on social media. That footage has been authorised by Police Commissioner Grant Stevens to remain published under the workings of our Police Complaints and Discipline Act, which applies some secrecy provisions once a police complaint is made.

My understanding is that that man suffered a fractured skull and broken rib. Further, after attending hospital he was taken to the police station and charged and was then required to walk back to his community almost an hour away from the police station. My question to the Attorney-General is: is that man allowed to tell the public that he sustained a fractured skull and broken ribs and was forced to walk back almost a hour to his community after what happened in that horrific vision?

The Hon. K.J. MAHER (Minister for Aboriginal Affairs, Attorney-General, Minister for Industrial Relations and Public Sector) (16:01): I thank the honourable member for her question. I think it was Monday of last week, I was contacted by a number of Aboriginal people from around South Australia and made aware of footage that was circulating on social media that depicts the incident the honourable member is talking about. I was concerned when I saw it—they are confronting images. Since then I have been contacted by a number of Aboriginal leaders, particularly in the Port Augusta and Davenport Aboriginal community outside the Port Augusta area about this footage, and I understand the concerns they have raised with me.

The next day I contacted the police commissioner personally about this incident. The commissioner assured me that the incident will be thoroughly investigated under the Police Complaints and Discipline Act processes and that the investigation will be overseen by the Office for Public Integrity, which has the ability to direct how the police investigation is going or to substitute recommendations that a police investigation makes in relation to that.

In relation to the person involved in that incident and what they are or are not able to say about the incident, I am happy to take it on notice. I do not have the specifics of the Police Complaints and Discipline Act provisions in relation to any particular incident, but I also note, as the honourable member pointed out, that the police commissioner has not sought to restrict the footage circulating on social media, and under the act and regime as it applied has determined to allow that footage not to be restricted. Given the circumstances of this, that is a sensible decision.

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