South Australian Current Acts

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CRIMINAL LAW CONSOLIDATION ACT 1935 - SECT 20AA

20AA—Causing harm to, or assaulting, certain emergency workers etc

        (1)         A person who causes harm to a prescribed emergency worker acting in the course of official duties, intending to cause harm, is guilty of an offence.

Maximum penalty: Imprisonment for 15 years.

        (2)         A person who causes harm to a prescribed emergency worker acting in the course of official duties, and is reckless in doing so, is guilty of an offence.

Maximum penalty: Imprisonment for 10 years.

        (3)         A person who assaults a prescribed emergency worker acting in the course of official duties is guilty of an offence.

Maximum penalty: Imprisonment for 5 years.

        (4)         A person who hinders or resists a police officer acting in the course of official duties, and, in so doing, causes harm to the officer, is guilty of an offence.

Maximum penalty: Imprisonment for 10 years.

        (5)         In proceedings for an offence against this section, it is a defence for the defendant to prove that the defendant did not know, and could not reasonably have been expected to know, that the victim was a prescribed emergency worker, or police officer, (as the case requires) acting in the course of official duties.

        (6)         Without limiting the ways in which a person can cause harm to a prescribed emergency worker, harm can be caused (but will not be taken to be caused) by causing human biological material to come into contact with a prescribed emergency worker.

        (7)         For the purposes of this section, a person causes human biological material to come into contact with a victim if the person performs any act (including, without limiting the generality of this subsection, by spitting or throwing human biological material at the victim, or deliberately applying human biological material to their person knowing that the victim is likely to come into physical contact with the person in the course of their duties) intended or likely to cause human biological material to come into contact with the victim.

        (8)         This section does not apply to conduct occurring before the commencement of this section.

        (9)         In this section—

"assault" means an assault within the meaning of section 20(1) and includes, to avoid doubt, an act consisting of intentionally causing human biological material to come into contact with a victim, or threatening to do so;

"harm" has the same meaning as in Division 7A;

"human biological material" means—

            (a)         blood, saliva, semen, faeces, urine or vomit; or

            (b)         any other material prescribed by the regulations;

"pharmacy" has the same meaning as in Part 4 of the Health Practitioner Regulation National Law (South Australia) Act 2010 ;

"pharmacy services" has the same meaning as in Part 4 of the Health Practitioner Regulation National Law (South Australia) Act 2010 ;

"prescribed emergency worker" means—

            (a)         a police officer; or

            (b)         a prison officer; or

            (c)         a community corrections officer or community youth justice officer; or

            (d)         an employee in a training centre (within the meaning of the Youth Justice Administration Act 2016 ); or

            (e)         a person (whether a health practitioner, nurse, nurse practitioner, midwife, security officer or otherwise) performing duties in a hospital, or at any other place where medical treatment is provided or medical testing undertaken (however described, but including, without limiting this paragraph, a general practice, medical centre or other place at which people are vaccinated or screened for diseases); or

            (f)         a person (whether a medical practitioner, nurse, pilot or otherwise) performing duties in the course of retrieval medicine; or

            (g)         a medical practitioner or other health practitioner (both within the meaning of the Health Practitioner Regulation National Law (South Australia) ) attending an out of hours or unscheduled callout, or assessing, stabilising or treating a person at the scene of an accident or other emergency, in a rural area; or

            (ga)         a person (whether a pharmacist, pharmacy assistant or otherwise) performing duties in a pharmacy; or

            (gb)         a person providing pharmacy services at a place other than a pharmacy, or a person assisting in the provision of such services; or

            (h)         a member of the SA Ambulance Service Inc; or

                  (i)         a member of SAMFS, SACFS or SASES; or

            (j)         a law enforcement officer; or

            (k)         an inspector within the meaning of the Animal Welfare Act 1985 ; or

            (l)         any other person engaged in an occupation or employment prescribed by the regulations for the purposes of section 5AA(1)(ka); or

            (m)         any other person prescribed by the regulations for the purposes of this paragraph,

whether acting in a paid or voluntary capacity, but does not include a person, or person of a class, declared by the regulations to be excluded from the ambit of this definition;

"recklessly"—a person is reckless in causing harm to another if the person—

            (a)         is aware of a substantial risk that his or her conduct could result in harm or serious harm (as the case requires); and

            (b)         engages in the conduct despite the risk and without adequate justification;

"retrieval medicine" means the assessment, stabilisation and transportation to hospital of patients with severe injury or critical illness (other than by a member of SA Ambulance Service Inc);

"rural area" means an area outside of Metropolitan Adelaide as defined by GRO Plan 639/93.



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