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Water Legislation (Dam Safety) Amendment Bill 2016

Legislation to improve the safety of Queensland dams has passed in Parliament without opposition.

The Water Legislation (Dam Safety) Amendment Bill 2016 intends to strengthen dam safety, reduce red tape, and give owners more power to manage their dams.

Owners will be responsible for managing the community when issues arise - such as leaks, releases, and flooding – and will need to tell the community when to act to protect people or property in emergencies.

Dam owners will also need to place warning signs in areas downstream of weirs and dams, even if they are needed on land owned by the Queensland government.

“This is a simple piece of legislation proposing to enhance the safety of people living downstream of a dam,” Member for Kallangur Shane King said.

Water Supply Minister Mark Bailey said dams are extremely safe, but recent natural disasters and dam failures have angered residents and disaster management groups.

These recommendations were handed down last year in a coroner report after four year-old Nelani Koefer drowned in the Bedford Weir when a part of the dam failed.

“Many Queenslanders are affected by disasters, and we must continue to learn from each event and improve our response and our practice,” Mr Bailey said.

“Dam owners, disaster management groups and local government must all work together to identify hazards and develop coordinated responses if these hazards arise.”

The bill will require all dams to undertake a failure impact assessment to determine the number of people whose safety could be at risk should the dam fail.

Failure impact assessments must be certified by professional engineers and can incur costs between $15,000 and $30,000.

Amendments in this bill allow dam owners to avoid this cost through negotiation with the Department of Energy and Water Supply. This intends to save Queensland dam owners more than $3.5 million.

The bill gives owners the ability to lower the water level of their dam, based on the advice of a registered professional engineer, in emergency situations without upfront ministerial approval.

Dam owners must check whether their dam is subject to this legislation.

There are currently 106 regulated dams in Queensland owned by a range of public and private entities.        

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Child sex offenders on parole in Queensland will now have to hand over their electronic devices to police up to four times a year. Failing to hand over access codes may result in up to 5 years’ jail time.

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Child Protection (Offender Reporting) and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 2016

New legislation has been introduced in Queensland Parliament to give police more power to prevent recidivist sexual offending against children.

The Child Protection (Offender Reporting) and Other Legislation Amendment Bill gives police access to electronic devices such as mobile phones in the possession of reportable offenders who have been deemed a risk to the community.

Reportable offenders are people who have been convicted of a sexual or serious crime against children and are required to report to police.  

“The police need this tool to keep pace with the ever-changing technological advances in our modern society”, Member for Albert Mark Boothman said.

“We need to give police the powers to access this information on the phone to prevent the spread of illegal material and child exploitation.”

Police will use specialised software to target reportable offenders who have been released from government detention or supervision in the previous three months as well as those convicted of an internet offence.

These new powers align with recommendations made by the Crime and Corruption Commission report which recognised police have limited power to manage the home behaviour of reportable offenders.

The software provides police with information about websites, social media sites, and chat rooms that reportable offenders may be accessing. The software is also capable of identifying image files on electronic devices, including child exploitation material.

Police officers who have been authorised by the police commissioner to monitor and manage reportable offenders will be able to exercise the new power.

Police will only be allowed to inspect a device four times a year. The process will require a post approval application to a magistrate and must be video recorded.

Reportable offenders who do not hand over passwords and access codes to their devices may face up to 5 years’ imprisonment.

The legislation further strengthens obligations of reportable offenders when travelling, contacting children, and reporting information.

The time frames associated with reporting travel has been reduced from seven days to 48 hours, minimising the opportunity for reportable offenders to leave Queensland undetected.

This legislation also contains mechanisms to further protect victims of child sexual abuse.

Victims will no longer have to be cross-examined by a person who has been alleged to offend against them.  

The bill received bipartisan support in Parliament.

“We should always look at what we can do to strengthen our laws to protect our children against the worst of the worst kind of criminal—that is, sexual offenders who prey on our most vulnerable Queenslanders”,  Shadow Police Minister Tim Mander said.

There are about 3100 reportable offenders in Queensland.  

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Criminal Law (Historical Homosexual Convictions) Expungement Bill 2017

Attorney-General Yvette D’Ath has introduced a bill to allow people to apply to have their historical sexual convictions expunged.

Consensual adult male homosexuality was decriminalised in Queensland on 19 January 1991 by former Premier Wayne Goss. However, the law reform did not make changes to the criminal histories of individuals who were charged or convicted prior to decriminalisation.

“Despite these important legislative changes, the pain and anguish caused by that earlier discrimination has never been removed for those affected Queenslanders,” Ms D’Ath said.

The Criminal Law (Historical Homosexual Convictions) Expungement Bill seeks to provide individuals with an opportunity to legally decide not to disclose certain types of convictions and charges ever again.

Ms D’Ath said past homosexual convictions have inhibited people from pursuing employment opportunities, volunteering in their communities, and fully participating in civic life.

“The archaic laws that existed in this state prior to 1991 institutionalised ignorance and legitimised prejudice toward people for merely expressing their sexuality,” Ms D’Ath said.  

“It not only impacted individuals; it lessened our community more broadly.

“Private, consensual adult sexual activity should never have been the concern of this Legislative Assembly or criminal law.”

To be eligible for expungement under the proposed scheme, charges and convictions must relate to conduct that occurred before January 19, 1991 and must have involved homosexual activity.

There will be no entitlements or compensation of any kind to people who have their charges expunged under the scheme.

The Director-General of the Department of Justice and Attorney-General will be responsible for deciding applications for expungement. Decisions will be reviewed by the Queensland Civil and Administrative Tribunal.

The bill coincides with a historic apology to Queenslanders who were vilified, harassed, convicted and jailed for gay sex offences in the state.

While some of the hundreds of Queenslanders impacted by the laws watched from the gallery, Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk delivered an apology she said was sincere and heartfelt

“Today this Legislative Assembly acknowledges the harm that has been inflicted by past convictions for homosexual activity between consenting adults in Queensland,”  Ms Palaszczuk said.

“To those people we are also sorry. You were denied the opportunity to openly declare your love for another, to celebrate that love, and to enjoy all that a loving relationship can give.”

The bill has been referred to the Legal and Ethics Committee and will be reintroduced to Parliament before July 14.

New South Wales, Victoria, South Australia and the Australian Capital Territory have expungement schemes already in place for this type of conviction.

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Premier Annastasia Palaszczuk has apologised to Queenslanders who were charged with historical homosexual activity offences. She has just moved a motion to expunge these historical convictions.

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Victims of Crime Assistances and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 2016 and Bail (Domestic Violence) and Another Act Amendment Bill 2017.

New legislation to improve safety for victims of domestic and family violence has passed through Queensland Parliament.

The Victims of Crime Assistances and Legislation Amendment Bill, introduced by Attorney-General Yvette D’Ath, and the Bail (Domestic Violence) and Another Act Amendment Bill, introduced by Opposition Leader Tim Nicholls both passed at the same time early this morning.

“We want to give some comfort, some safety, to those women, their children and their relatives against people who often are just simply out of control,” Shadow Minister for Corrective Services Tim Mander said.

The presumption of bail will be reversed in most domestic-violence related crimes. This allows prosecutors to refuse bail unless offenders can argue there are good reasons for it to be granted.

Victims of domestic violence will now be notified when offenders receive bail, are considered for parole or are released from prison, and allows courts to order GPS trackers for offenders as part of a bail condition.

The bills strengthen the Victims of Crime and Assistance Act 2009 by introducing a series of amendments that seek to minimise the trauma experienced by victims during court proceedings.  

Domestic violence victims will be automatically recognised as special witnesses and will be able to give evidence with a support person or in a different room to the alleged offender.  

The bill expands the operation of the victim impact statement provisions to allow victims of any domestic and family violence offence the opportunity to give an impact statement to the court during proceedings.

The legislation also ensures private communication between sexual assault victims and their counsellor cannot be easily accessed by offenders.  

Victims will no longer need verified statutory declarations or medical certificates when applying for financial assistance.

Both bills received bipartisan support in the Parliament, however, Labor made significant amendments to Mr Nicholls’ bail bill.

Mr Nicholls introduced the bill two weeks after the death of Teresa Bradford by her estranged husband at her home in Pimpama.

“With more than 22,000 domestic violence protection orders now flowing through the courts each year, we cannot afford not to have stronger laws to protect our victims,” Mr Nicholls said.

The bills were based on recommendations made in the Not Now, Not Ever report by former Governor-General Quentin Bryce as well as legislation already enacted in other Australian jurisdictions.  

Eighteen Queensland women died in domestic violence incidents in 2016.

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Child Protection and Education Legislation (Reporting of Abuse) Amendment Bill 2017

Independent member for Cairns Rob Pyne has put forward a bill that will force religious representatives to disclose real or suspected acts of sexual abuse.

The bill seeks to amend the Child Protection Act 1999 and the Education (General Provisions) Act 2006 to impose the obligation of mandatory reporting of sexual abuse on priests, pastors, bishops, rabbi and imam, who are currently exempt from such laws.

“It is time religious representatives are subjected to the same rule of law as many other groups that work with children in schools,” Mr Pyne said.

Mr Pyne said churches are unwilling to investigate reported abuse and assist in covering up incidents after they are reported.

“The issue of abuse by church-run institutions is a well-known worldwide fact,” he said.  

“The tragic conveyer belt of witnesses before the royal commission only proved to confirm what we all know about institutional abuse: it ruined thousands of lives and hurt thousands of vulnerable children.”

The bill has been referred to the Education, Tourism, Innovation and Small Business Committee.

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