Second Reading Speech
Mr DREYFUS (Isaacs - Attorney-General and Cabinet Secretary)I move:
That this bill be now read a second time.
The Crimes and Other Legislation Amendment (Omnibus) Bill 2023 will update, improve and clarify the intended operation of certain provisions in the Crimes Act 1914and other Commonwealth legislation, to support the proper administration of government, law enforcement, oversight and judicial processes.
This bill will make a number of minor and technical amendments. These include correcting errors in naming and referencing, and clarifying and improving a range of government, judicial, regulatory and oversight processes.
The amendments do not expand or otherwise alter existing powers for law enforcement and regulatory agencies. Similarly, the amendments do not limit or in any way reduce existing scrutiny and oversight mechanisms for the exercise of those powers.
Amendments to the Crimes Act 1914will correct drafting errors and clarify and improve judicial processes, including ensuring that persons arrested for a Commonwealth offence can be bailed or remanded in the timeliest manner.
Amendments to the Anti-Money Laundering and Counter-Terrorism Financing Act 2006 will strengthen and modernise aspects of Australia's AML/CTF regime, and assist AUSTRAC in fulfilling its important functions as Australia's money laundering and terrorism financing regulator in an efficient and practical manner. The amendments will achieve this by strengthening and clarifying the civil penalty provision for a person failing to enrol with AUSTRAC. The amendments will also clarify the existing secrecy and access framework to ensure that sensitive AUSTRAC information, which is subject to extensive safeguards, cannot be inappropriately disclosed for the purposes of, or in connection with, court or tribunal proceedings, protecting the integrity of this information.
Further, the amendments will explicitly authorise the AUSTRAC CEO to use a computer program to automate 'positive' administrative actions under relevant provisions of the AML/CTF Act, the AML/CTF Rules, or other instruments made under that act. Automated actions will only relate to 'positive' decision-making responsibilities regarding registration and enrolment of entities which do not result in an adverse outcome for a person or impact the application of procedural fairness principles. These will include decisions to renew the registration of a remittance service provider or a digital currency exchange provider. In practice, the computer program would consider an application for renewal alongside objective criteria such as whether the reporting entity has complied with all requirements specified in the AML/CTF Act and Rules, whether there have been changes to registration details or key personnel, and whether there have been disclosable civil or criminal proceedings, actions or convictions against any key personnel in the period since the entity was last registered. If no issues are identified, the person's application for renewal of their registration is accepted. If potential issues are identified, the application is forwarded to an AUSTRAC officer to manually process the application and make a decision.
Amendments to the Witness Protection Act 1994will improve outcomes for participants of the National Witness Protection Program, and assist the Australian Federal Police in its management of the program. The amendments will achieve this by correcting a drafting oversight to ensure that past participants of witness protection programs, which preceded the existing National Witness Protection Program, are covered by the Witness Protection Act 1994. The amendments will allow participants to be temporarily suspended from receiving protection and assistance under the witness protection program in appropriate circumstances, rather than needing to exit and re-enter the program. The amendments will also modernise certain processes and terminology throughout the act, which will also assist with reducing the administrative burden on the AFP.
The amendments to the Mutual Assistance in Criminal Matters Act 1987will expand the existing mandatory ground of refusal regarding torture. Currently, requests for assistance must only be refused if the person who is the subject of the request may be subjected to torture. This amendment expands the scope of the ground of refusal so that the Attorney-General must refuse requests where there are substantial grounds to believe that any person would be in danger of being subjected to torture if the request were granted. This may include witnesses, persons who consent to be transferred to a foreign country to give evidence, or other persons that may be impacted.
Amendments to the Foreign Evidence Act 1994will streamline legal processes by expanding the categories of persons who can sign or certify foreign testimony and simplifying the process of obtaining testimony from foreign countries for use in Australian proceedings. An additional update to terminology in the act will reflect, and further enable, the current international practices of providing material by electronic means. These amendments will ensure our legislation reflects current international and Australian domestic practices, and will minimise difficulties in obtaining and admitting evidence.
Amendments to the International Transfer of Prisoners Act 1997will allow the Attorney-General to refuse consent to applications for transfers to or from Australia at an earlier stage, instead of at the very end of the process. This will make the process more efficient and reduce administrative burdens by ensuring that state and territory governments, foreign countries and prisoners are not unnecessarily consulted where the Attorney-General would be minded to ultimately refuse consent but is unable to do so before seeking consent from all other parties.
A minor amendment to the Criminology Research Act 1971 will update the process for appointing the Commonwealth representative to the Criminology Research Advisory Council. The amendment will clarify that the appointment applies to the holder of a particular senior executive position, not the individual officer. This will remove the need for the minister to revoke and remake the appointment each time there is a change in the relevant senior executive officer.
Minor amendments to the Telecommunications (Interception and Access) Act 1979 will address referencing inconsistencies. The amendments will ensure that state and territory based public interest monitors can provide effective oversight on applications for interception activities made by the relevant agency in their jurisdiction.
Minor amendments to the Telecommunications (Interception and Access) Act 1979, the Surveillance Devices Act 2004, the Crimes Act 1914, the Criminal Code Act 1995 and the Privacy Act 1988 will correct references relating to the South Australia Independent Commission Against Corruption.
Amendments to the Australian Crime Commission Act 2002will correct a minor drafting error so that the penalty for noncompliance with a notice to produce is in the correct location in this act.
Conclusion
The Crimes and Other Legislation Amendment (Omnibus) Bill 2023 makes minor and technical amendments which will support the proper administration of regulatory, law enforcement, oversight and judicial processes. These changes will improve the everyday operation of government agencies by creating efficiencies and removing doubt and inconsistencies in certain provisions.
These amendments will also improve outcomes for non-Commonwealth government stakeholders, including members of the public who come into contact with the judicial system, state and territory governments, and our international partners.
I commend the bill to the House.
Debate adjourned.