South Australia

Summary Offences (False Identities—Children) Amendment Bill 2004

A Bill For

An Act to amend the Summary Offences Act 1953.

Contents

Part 1—Preliminary

1 Short title

2 Amendment provisions

Part 2—Amendment of Summary Offences Act 1953

3 Insertion of Part 4A

Part 4A—False identities—children

21B False identities—children

The Parliament of South Australia enacts as follows:

Part 1—Preliminary

1—Short title

This Act may be cited as the Summary Offences (False Identities—Children) Amendment Act 2004.

2—Amendment provisions

In this Act, a provision under a heading referring to the amendment of a specified Act amends the Act so specified.

Part 2—Amendment of Summary Offences Act 1953

3—Insertion of Part 4A

After Part 4 insert:

Part 4A—False identities—children

21B—False identities—children

(1) In this section—

child means a minor of or above the age of 14 years;

false identity—a child assumes a false identity if the child pretends to be, or passes himself or herself off as, some other person;

The other person may be—

(a) living or dead;

(b) real or fictional.

prescribed purpose—a prescribed purpose is either of the following:

(a) to obtain alcohol, tobacco or any other product not lawfully available to persons under the age of 18;

(b) to gain entry to premises to which access is not ordinarily allowed to person under the age of 18;

written information includes information appearing or recorded (including in electronic form or by encryption) on—

(a) some form of card; or

(b) a licence, permit or other authority (or a purported licence, permit or other authority); or

(c) some other form of document, record or item.

(2) A child who, for a prescribed purpose—

(a) assumes a false identity; or

(b) falsely pretends by the production of any written information or other material to be of or above the age of 18 years,

is guilty of an offence.

Maximum penalty:

(a) for a first offence—$750;

(b) for a second offence—$1 000;

(c) for a third or subsequent offence—$1 500.

Expiation fee: $300.

(3) If a police officer decides to deal with an offence against this section as a minor offence under Part 2 Division 2 of the Young Offenders Act 1993, then the period of community service that is applicable with respect to the offence must be—

(a) in the case of a first offence—25 hours;

(b) in the case of a second offence—50 hours;

(c) in the case of a third or subsequent offence—75 hours.

(4) The following provisions apply in connection with subsections (2) and (3):

(a) despite the Expiation of Offences Act 1996—

(i) an expiation notice for an alleged offence against subsection (2) may be given to a child under the age of 16 years at the time the offence is alleged to have been committed; and

(ii) an alleged offence against subsection (2) that has been expiated in accordance with that Act will be taken into account as an offence for the purposes of subsection (3); and

(b) a previous offence against subsection (2) that has been admitted by the child will be taken into account as an offence for the purposes of subsection (3) (even if proceedings for the offence are not brought or a conviction for an offence is not recorded).

(5) If—

(a) a child commits a second or subsequent offence against subsection (2) (whether or not proceedings for the offence, or for a preceding offence, have been brought and whether or not the offence, or a preceding offence, has been expiated in accordance with the Expiation of Offences Act 1996); and

(b) a parent of the child has, by wilfully or negligently failing to exercise an appropriate level of supervision or control over the child's activities, contributed to the situation leading to the commission of the offence,

the parent is guilty of an offence.

Maximum penalty: $1 500.

Expiation fee: $500.