Commonwealth Numbered Regulations - Explanatory Statements

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CRIMES REGULATIONS (AMENDMENT) 1991 NO. 235

STATUTORY RULES 1991 No. 235

Crimes Act 1914

Crimes Regulations (Amendment)

Section 91 of the Crimes Act 1914 (the Crimes Act) provides that the Governor-General may make regulations for the purposes of the Act.

The Regulations (Amendment):

•       prescribe the new home detention scheme of Western Australia for the purposes of subsection 19AZD(3) of the Crimes Act; and

•       prescribe additional exclusions from the operation of the Commonwealth spent conviction scheme under paragraph 85ZZH(k) of the Crimes Act and make minor amendments to existing regulations under paragraph 85ZZH(k).

Subsection 19AZD(3) of the Crimes Act provides that a law of a State or Territory providing for a State or Territory offender to be released under a pre-release permit scheme that is prescribed for the purposes of the subsection applies, subject to any eligibility conditions, to a federal offender who is serving a sentence in that State or Territory. Under this subsection schemes operating in Queensland, Victoria, South Australia and Western Australia have previously been prescribed. The new scheme complements the previously prescribed Western Australian scheme.

Part VIIC of the Crimes Act provides a scheme by which, after a period of ten years for an adult or five years for a minor, convictions for Commonwealth offences are to be treated as spent in that the convicted person need not disclose, nor may any other person or organisation disclose or take account of, such conviction.

Section 85ZZH in Part VIIC provides exclusions from the operation of the scheme for a number of specified purposes. Paragraph 85ZZH(k) provides that further exclusions may be prescribed.

A number of exclusions have already been prescribed in Schedule 4 to the Crimes Regulations; the Regulations add to these.

Details of the Regulations are as follows:

Regulation 1: This regulation is a formal provision providing that the Crimes Regulations are amended as set out in the proposed regulations.

Regulation 2: This regulation prescribes the new Western Australian home detention scheme, corrects a spelling error and imposes an eligibility criterion for the participation of federal offenders in the new scheme.

Subregulation 2.1 amends paragraph 5(1)(d) of the Crimes Regulations by omitting the present paragraph which prescribes only the Western Australian work release scheme and substitutes a paragraph which prescribes both the new home detention scheme and the work release scheme.

Subregulation 2.2 corrects an error in the spelling of "eligible" in subregulation 5(2) of the Crimes Regulations.

Subregulation 2.3 inserts a new subregulation 5(3) in the Regulations providing that a federal offender subject to early release is not eligible to participate in the new scheme. This subregulation is made because the new scheme is restricted in its operation to short term State offenders who do not have a non-parole period. As the federal equivalent to parole release for short term prisoners is release on recognizance, the subregulation maintains the principle of intrastate parity of treatment of State and federal offenders.

Regulation 3: This regulation amends Schedule 4 to the Crimes Regulations.

Subregulation 3.1 amends Item 5 (column 2) to exclude the Government of the Australian Capital Territory from the operation of the scheme, in relation to all offences, for the purpose of assessing the suitability of a person for appointment as a justice of the peace.

Subregulation 3.2 amends Item 6 (column 2) to exclude prison administration in South Australia from the operation of the scheme, in relation to offences involving violence only, for the purpose of assessing the suitability of a person to have responsibility for the care or control of prisoners.

Subregulation 3.3 amends Item 9 (column 3) by inserting the correct title of the "Poppy Advisory and Control Board, Tasmania".

Subregulation 3.4: Substitutes a new Item 10 which inserts the correct title of the "Poppy Advisory and Control Board, Tasmania", and excludes the Board from the operation of the scheme, in relation to drug offences only, for the purpose of assessing the suitability of persons to be employed or otherwise engaged in connection with the processing of applications for licences to grow opium poppies and the monitoring of the growing of opium poppies.

Subregulation 3.5: corrects a printing error in Item 12 (column 2) by substituting the word "offices" for "offences".

Minister for Justice and Consumer Affairs