Victorian Government Proposes Exemptions To Sex Offender Registration For Teenagers
Thursday 1 June 2017 @ 11.33 a.m. | Crime
The Victorian Government has proposed legislative changes that would allow young people aged up to 18 or 19 to apply for an order exempting them from being automatically listed on the sex offenders register. The proposed exemption is included in the Sex Offenders Registration Amendment (Miscellaneous) Bill 2017 (Vic), which was introduced into the Victorian Legislative Assembly on 10 May 2017. The exemption will only be able to be granted in certain circumstances, and is designed to deal with teenagers who are involved in consensual sexual relationships.
The Bill also makes a number of other amendments to sex offender legislation, including introducing a new search warrant power for Victoria Police, allowing police to obtain fingerprints and DNA samples from offenders without a court order, allowing courts powers to suspend reporting obligations in particular cases, and clarifying that the prohibition on child-related employment applies for life to persons placed on the sex offender register.
Introducing the Bill into the Legislative Assembly, Minister for Police Lisa Neville said:
“The Sex Offenders Registration Act was not focused on automatically capturing all of these cases without any exception. Not only is automatic registration in certain strictly limited cases involving offenders aged 18 or 19 years old potentially unfair, it also requires police resources to be devoted to offenders that pose a very low risk to the community when they could be more effectively directed towards paedophiles and other offenders that represent a far greater risk to the community”
She highlighted the Victorian Law Reform Commission’s 2011 report, Sex Offenders Registration, which she said “made apparent that the existing system of ‘automatically’ registering all adults upon being sentenced for certain ‘registrable’ sexual offences has resulted in the inherently unfair and unnecessary registration of a small number of young people”. While the VLRC recommended abolishing automatic registration completely, Ms Neville said:
“For the vast majority of adult sex offenders, automatic registration is the only effective means of ensuring that offenders do not slip through the cracks and can avoid the additional scrutiny of police that comes from being on the sex offenders register. All other Australian jurisdictions except Tasmania have taken a similar position and provide for automatic registration of adult sex offenders.”
The Government’s alternate solution would allow a person found guilty of a specified registrable offence to apply for a registration exemption order if the person was 18 or 19 years of age at any time during the commission of the offence, or if they were not more than 19 years of age at all times during the commission of the offence. The exemption will not apply if a person is found guilty of another registrable offence that is not a specified offence under the Act, or if the offences are committed against multiple victims. Any victim involved must be at least 14 years old, and the court will need to be satisfied that the offender poses no risk or a low risk to the sexual safety of one or more persons of the community.
Legal Aid Victoria’s executive director of criminal law, Helen Fatouros, told The Guardian Australia the move would be welcomed, saying:
“The legislation was plainly not intended to catch young people who have formed consensual relationships… The registration of young people in these circumstances does not serve the overriding objective of protecting vulnerable members of the community.”
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Sources:
Sex Offenders Registration Amendment (Miscellaneous) Bill 2017 (Vic),Explanatory Memorandum and Second Reading Speech available from TimeBase's LawOne service
