Bernie Ripoll (Oxley, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

I rise to speak on the Law and Justice Legislation Amendment (Identity Crimes and Other Measures) Bill 2008. It is a pleasure to speak on this bill because it goes to the core of some very contemporary issues. It brings to mind the issue of identity in the Victorian bushfires and how that has affected people’s lives. For a lot of people in Victoria the fires have meant a whole range of tragedies, from loss of life to loss of property, and for some it has meant the complete loss of identity. That drives home just how important this legislation is. When somebody loses their identity or has it taken away from them, a range of barriers, complications and difficulties are created in areas of life that the rest of us take for granted. Going to the bank to access your funds, opening accounts, renewing a licence or just carrying out normal day-to-day business can be a real challenge.

The bill makes a range of changes and amendments that are supported by everyone in this House because they are exceptionally important. As we heard from the last speaker, it has come from work that has been carried on for quite a number of years. The bill contains amendments to the Criminal Code Act 1995, the Crimes Act 1914, the Privacy Act 1988, the Australian Federal Police Act 1979, the Director of Public Prosecutions Act 1983, the Judiciary Act 1903 and the Anti-Money Laundering and Counter-Terrorism Financing Act 2006. The amendments in the bill range from inserting new offences in the Criminal Code, specifically directed at dealing in identification information, possessing identification information and possessing equipment to make identification documentation, to reframing the administration of justice offences in part III of the Crimes Act to bring them in line with the Criminal Code. They allow for the delegation of both powers and functions to certain persons and to provide legal immunity to the director or a member of staff carrying out functions and duties under the Director of Public Prosecutions Act 1983. The bill improves the operation of the Anti-Money Laundering and Counter-Terrorism Financing Act 2006 and establishes a more consistent approach on the disclosure of sensitive AUSTRAC information. It goes to streamlining the processes for alcohol and other drug testing under the Australian Federal Police Act and expands the range of conduct for which the commissioner may make awards. It also repeals section 55D of the Judiciary Act and includes the Victorian Office of Police Integrity in the definition of an ‘enforcement body’ in the Privacy Act 1988. Finally, it includes a minor amendment that corrects a drafting error in section 477.1(5) of the Criminal Code Act.

For a person to have a crime committed against them is bad enough, but for that crime to then involve a continuing crime whereby they can no longer establish who they are is a great travesty of justice. Everything that can be done in this place ought to be done, and that is what the bill is about.

Technology certainly has a huge hand in the way identity fraud and identity crime is carried out in today’s world. Identity crime in itself is not new; it is something that has been around since biblical times. There is many a story in a range of books that talk about identity crime. Today, what is most frightening for someone who has their identity stolen is that the onus is then placed back on the victim to re-establish their identity. It is a huge, onerous and expensive task that takes an awful amount of effort and time and can be very complicated in how it is achieved. I hope and expect that the changes in the bill before us today will go a long way to ameliorating some of the difficulties and lowering the costs and time. It will specify how a person can gain assistance in re-establishing their identity in the community, particularly in relation to other people committing criminal acts, taking out loans or carrying out business activities under their name. There is a very wide-ranging scope of crimes to be dealt with by the detail in this legislation, and this legislation will go a long way towards pulling all of those things together.

The recommendations that have driven the legislation before us come from the Model Criminal Law Officers Committee, the MCLOC, which identified a range of deficiencies in the current law. The bill will include in the Criminal Code three offences recommended by the MCLOC, which will allow for victims of identity crime to obtain a certificate that may assist in re-establishing their credit histories and identity. That is a critical point in re-establishing who a person is and helping them to get on with the day-to-day circumstances of their life.

Schedule 1, in particular, inserts identity offences victims certificate provisions under the new part 9.5 of the Criminal Code Act. This was part of the final report on identity crime. It deals with the three areas of identification information, the possession of identification information and the possession of equipment to create such information. So it specifies exactly what the crime is about, and it contains measures to assist those victims of identity crime in re-establishing who they are. Schedule 2 reframes the administration of justice offences in part III of the Crimes Act to bring them in line with the Criminal Code—another important part in the administration of justice. The administration of justice offences are directed at conduct that would otherwise undermine the integrity of the Australian courts or prisons, including such offences as the fabrication of evidence, the intimidation of witnesses and the aiding of a prisoner to escape from lawful criminal detention. The amendments in this area of justice offences correct what was a drafting oversight. Their effect is to increase the penalties for those offences, with the penalties increasing to 10 years for such things as conspiracy to pervert the course of justice and a range of other related matters.

In schedule 3 the amendment is in relation to the Director of Public Prosecutions Act 1983, and it will allow for the delegation of both powers and functions to certain persons. This clarifies who can and cannot be delegated functions and powers, and then moves to examine the way joint trials arrangements are taken with state and territory counterparts. It also provides immunity from civil proceedings for persons who carry out those functions. So it draws in together a range of clarifying amendments to put beyond doubt what has been the cause of some uncertainty—that the director can actually delegate both functions and powers under the DPP Act. It also allows the director to authorise a particular person to sign indictments on his or her behalf and to delegate those powers and functions as is needed, and to further ascertain and make certain that immunity will only apply if the acts or omissions were done in good faith and in the performance of the exercise of a person’s functions as they were delegated under those powers or duties.

Schedule 4 is an improvement on the Anti-Money Laundering and Counter-Terrorism Financing Act 2006 and is a very important part of making certain that sensitive AUSTRAC information is dealt with in the proper manner. This provides for a robust regime for detecting and deterring money laundering and terrorism financing—two very important parts of any government’s role in making certain the security of its citizens and in acting in a global fashion. But the key obligations that will be imposed under the legislative amendment are the identification and verification of customers. There will be an obligation on business, when dealing with suspects in this area or suspected activity in this area, to identify and verify who their customers are. They must report suspicious matters and certain transactions, and they must maintain and create the proper records for a period of seven years. They must also establish and maintain an anti-money-laundering and counterterrorism-financing program to ensure that these matters are dealt with. So this bill contains several amendments to bring into line a more consistent approach and to meet the needs of AUSTRAC by strengthening the safeguards to protect against the disclosure of sensitive AUSTRAC information.

The bill also streamlines the processes for alcohol and other drug testing in the Australian Federal Police Act, and there are a range of amendments in terms of conduct for which the commissioner may make awards in this area—alcohol screening tests, in addition to alcohol breath tests—and having a single direction requiring an AFP employee or special member to undergo one or more of the alcohol and drug tests as set out according to the act. Further, the bill repeals section 55D of the Judiciary Act 1903 concerning the criteria for eligibility to practise law in the territories. This section will actually enable a person who has been admitted to the roll of the High Court, kept under the rules of the court, state or territory, to practise in a territory—a worthwhile and necessary amendment.

Finally, proposed section 7 amends the definition of an enforcement body in the Privacy Act 1998. That is included in order to bring into line the jurisdiction of the Office of Police Integrity in Victoria. The bill contains several minor consequential amendments, including to the acts of the Federal Court of Australia—the International Criminal Court Act, the International Transfer of Prisoners Act, the International War Crimes Tribunals Act and the Mutual Assistance in Criminal Matters Act as well as the Telecommunications (Interception and Access) Act 1979 and the Transfer of Prisoners Act 1983.

This is not a controversial bill. This is a bill that is supported by all members of parliament and which will go some way to continuing to improve the regulatory and enforcement regimes that we have in this country to ensure that crimes are properly dealt with and that we have the right mechanisms in place to ensure that we can deal with people in those areas in an appropriate manner. I commend the bill to the House.

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