Victoria Police Amendment (Consequential and Other Matters) Bill 2014

Introduction Print

EXPLANATORY MEMORANDUM

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BILL LA INTRODUCTION 11/3/2014

General

The Bill facilitates the commencement and operation of the Victoria Police Act 2013.

The Victoria Police Act 2013 is a new principal Act for the governance and administration of policing in Victoria.

The Victoria Police Act 2013 largely replaces the Police Regulation Act 1958. Most of the provisions of the Police Regulation Act 1958 will be repealed, with the exception of the pension provisions. These provisions will be retained in the renamed Police Regulation (Pensions) Act 1958.

TheBill—

  • modernises and standardises terminology across the statute book used to refer to Victoria Police and the people who constitute Victoria Police; and
  • amends cross-references to the Police Regulation Act 1958 to cross-refer the new equivalent provisions in the Victoria Police Act 2013; and
  • amends the Victoria Police Act 2013 to require the Police Registration and Services Board to publish statements of reasons for its decisions in certain circumstances; and
  • amends the Victoria Police Act 2013 to provide a regulation-making power for appeals and reviews; and
  • ensures the continued capacity of Deputy Commissioners to exercise powers under certain legislative schemes; and
  • makes other miscellaneous amendments.

Clause Notes

Clause 1sets out the purpose of the Bill, which is to amend Victorian Acts as a consequence of the enactment of the Victoria Police Act 2013 and to amend that Act.

Clause 2provides for the Bill's commencement arrangements. Allprovisions (except for clause 10(2) and (3) and items 95, 141, 142 and 143 of the Schedule) will come into effect on a day or days to be proclaimed, with a forced commencement date of 1January 2015. It is intended that most provisions in the Bill will come into operation on the same day as the Victoria Police Act 2013(which has a default commencement date of 1December 2014), subject to a few exceptions. The exceptions are for new provisions that will require updated terminology but may not be in operation at the time the Victoria Police Act 2013 comes into operation, or for existing provisions that are subject to amendments that may not be in operation at that time but require updated terminology.

Clause 10(2) and(3) and items 95, 141, 142 and 143 contain amendments in relation to national schemes which do not have forced commencement dates (the Legal Profession Uniform Law Application Act 2014, if passed, and the Rail Safety National Law Application Act 2013 and the related Act, the Transport Legislation Amendment (Rail Safety Local Operations and Other Matters) Act 2013). It is necessary to allow amendments that relate to those national schemes, and to Acts affected by those national schemes, to come into force when those national schemes commence, if they commence after the commencement of the Victoria Police Act 2013.

Clause 3provides that, in this Bill, the Victoria Police Act 2013 is called the Principal Act.

Clause 4repeals section 30(3)(c) of the Victoria Police Act 2013, as this paragraph is unnecessary given that section 30(3) only applies when a person is not registered on the Police Profession Register.

Clause 5inserts a new section 124A into the Victoria Police Act 2013, regarding the publication of statements of reasons by the Police Registration and Services Board.

The new section 124A provides that the Police Registration and Services Board—

  • may publish a statement of reasons for its decision to refuse an application for registration, or an application for renewal of registration, only if it is satisfied that publishing the statement is in the public interest; and
  • must publish a statement of reasons for its decision to cancel a registration unless it is satisfied that the publication of the statement would not be in the public interest; and
  • may exclude information from a statement of reasons published under this section if it considers the exclusion to be in the public interest.

Clause 6inserts a new section 154A into the Victoria Police Act 2013.

New section 154A(1) requires the Police Registration and Services Board to publish a statement of reasons for a decision on a review under Part 8 of the Victoria Police Act 2013 unless it is satisfied that to do so would not be in the public interest.

New section 154A(2) provides that the Police Registration and Services Board may exclude information from a statement of reasons for a decision on a review under Part 8 of the Victoria Police Act 2013 if it considers the exclusion to be in the public interest.

Clause 7inserts a new section 165A into the Victoria Police Act 2013, which creates an obligation for the Police Registration and Services Board to notify each party of its decision on an appeal or a review under Part 8 of the Victoria Police Act 2013 within 14 days after the decision is made.

Clause 8inserts a new item in Schedule 5 to the Victoria Police Act 2013, which provides that the Governor in Council may make regulations for or with respect to appeals and reviews under Part8 of the Victoria Police Act 2013.

Clause 9amends Schedule 6 to the Victoria Police Act 2013, which contains transitional provisions.

Clause 9(1) amends the heading of clause 6 of Schedule 6 to reflect the scope of transitional provisions contained within that clause.

Clause 9(2) provides general transitional provisions in relation to references to protective services officers, police recruits, Victoria Police employees and special constables.

Clause 10provides that, on the coming into operation of a consequential amendment in the Schedule, the Act specified in the heading to that item is amended as set out in that item.

Subclauses (2) and (3) provide for the automatic repeal of items141, 142.1 and 142.3 of the Schedule. This is necessary because these items amend the Rail Safety Act 2006, which itself will be amended and re-named the Rail Safety (Local Operations) Act 2006 when two other Acts come into operation. These two Acts are the Rail Safety National Law Application Act 2013 (which applies the Rail Safety National Law, a national scheme) and the related Act, the Transport Legislation Amendment (Rail Safety Local Operations and Other Matters) Act 2013). The day on which the Rail Safety National Law will commence has yet to be determined and is not subject to a forced commencement date. Accordingly, the amendments to the Rail Safety Act 2006 allow for the possibility of the national scheme either being in effect or not being in effect at the time when the Victoria Police Act 2013 comes into operation. Theautomatic repeals in subclauses (2) and (3) are technical in nature and prevent any duplication that might otherwise occur as a result of the amendments to the Rail Safety Act 2006.

Clause 11contains amendments of a statute law revision nature that correct grammatical and punctuation errors in the Victoria Police Act 2013.

Clause 12repeals the Bill on the first anniversary of the first day on which all of its provisions are in operation. The repeal of the Bill does not affect the ongoing operation of the amendments made by it (see section 15(1) of the Interpretation of Legislation Act 1984).

SCHEDULE

The Schedule makes consequential amendments to other Victorian Acts that deal with matters related to policing.

Modernising and standardising terminology

The Victoria Police Act 2013 modernises and standardises terminology used to refer to Victoria Police and the people who constitute Victoria Police. TheSchedule to the Bill replaces the following terms across various Victorian Acts to achieve consistency with the terminology used in the Victoria Police Act 2013—

  • Victoria Police replaces the police force and the force;
  • police officer replaces member of the force and member of the police force;
  • member of Victoria Police Personnel replaces member of police personnel;
  • Victoria Police employee replaces person employed in the office of the Chief Commissioner.

The Schedule only replaces these terms where they are used in relation to Victoria Police. For example, where the term member of the force appears in an Act and is intended to refer to or include police of another jurisdiction, that occurrence of the term has not been replaced.

References to the force and the police force will be changed to Victoria Police to reflect the establishment of Victoria Police as a body by the Victoria Police Act 2013.

Amending references to the Police Regulation Act 1958

The Victoria Police Act 2013 will largely replace the Police Regulation Act 1958. Accordingly, the Schedule amends cross-references to the Police Regulation Act 1958 in other Victorian Acts, and cross-references to specific provisions of the Police Regulation Act 1958 that will be repealed upon commencement of the Victoria Police Act 2013. The Schedule amends Acts to cross-refer to the Victoria Police Act 2013 and to the new equivalent provisions in that Act.

For example, the Terrorism (Community Protection) Act 2003 contains cross-references to Part IV of the Police Regulation Act 1958, which deals with Complaints and Investigations. The Schedule substitutes these with cross-references to Part 9 of the Victoria Police Act 2013, which contains the new equivalent provisions.

Deputy Commissioners of Victoria Police

In addition to the consequential amendments described above, the Schedule makes a small number of amendments to Acts to ensure the continued capacity of Deputy Commissioners to exercise powers under certain legislative schemes.

Item 23.5inserts a new section 12(5) in the Commissioner for Law Enforcement Data Security Act 2005, which provides that Deputy Commissioners can exercise the powers of the Chief Commissioner under that section.

This amendment is required to maintain the current authority of Deputy Commissioners under that Act. Section 12(4) of the Commissioner for Law Enforcement Data Security Act 2005 limits delegation of the powers of the Chief Commissioner under that Act. However, section 6(1) of the Police Regulation Act 1958 provides that Deputy Commissioners can exercise all the powers of the Chief Commissioner under any Act. Thisprovision will be repealed on the commencement of the Victoria Police Act 2013 and there is no equivalent provision in the Victoria Police Act 2013.

Item 37.4inserts a new section 34A in the Crimes (Assumed Identities) Act 2004, which provides that Deputy Commissioners can exercise the powers of the Chief Commissioner under that Act.

This amendment is required to maintain the current authority of Deputy Commissioners under that Act. Section 34 of the Crimes (Assumed Identities) Act 2004limits delegation of the powers of the Chief Commissioner under this Act. However, section 6(1) of the Police Regulation Act 1958 provides that Deputy Commissioners can exercise all the powers of the Chief Commissioner under any Act. This provision will be repealed on the commencement of the Victoria Police Act 2013 and there is no equivalent provision in the Victoria Police Act 2013.

Item 103.17inserts a new section 65A in the Major Crime (Investigative Powers) Act 2004, which provides that Deputy Commissioners can exercise the powers of the Chief Commissioner under that Act.

This amendment is required to maintain the current authority of Deputy Commissioners under that Act. Section 65(3) of the Major Crime (Investigative Powers) Act 2004 limits delegation of the powers of the Chief Commissioner under that Act. However, section 6(1) of the Police Regulation Act 1958 provides that Deputy Commissioners can exercise all the powers of the Chief Commissioner under any Act. This provision will be repealed on the commencement of the Victoria Police Act 2013 and there is no equivalent provision in the Victoria Police Act 2013.

Item 167.41inserts a new section 21AB in the Terrorism (Community Protection) Act 2003, which provides that Deputy Commissioners can exercise the powers of the Chief Commissioner under Part 3A of that Act.

This amendment is required to maintain the current authority of Deputy Commissioners under that Act. Section 21A(3) of the Terrorism (Community Protection) Act 2003limits delegation of the powers of the Chief Commissioner under that Act. However, section 6(1) of the Police Regulation Act 1958 provides that Deputy Commissioners can exercise all the powers of the Chief Commissioner under any Act. This provision will be repealed on the commencement of the Victoria Police Act 2013 and there is no equivalent provision in the Victoria Police Act 2013.

Amendments to references to section 16 of the Public Administration Act2004

Item 134.2of the Schedule amends section 16(1) of the Public Administration Act 2004, to update that section so that it correctly refers to"offices or bodies". In turn, section 16(1) is referred to in the Financial Management Act 1994, the Freedom of Information Act 1982, the Project Development and Construction Management Act 1994, the Victorian Institute of Forensic Medicine Act 1985 and the Victorian Managed Insurance Authority Act 1996. The Schedule will update references to "offices" in those Acts to references to "offices or bodies".

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