6th Dec 2018, 4:03 PM – Senate Home Affairs Legislation Amendment (Miscellaneous Measures) Bill 2018 - in Committee - Presumption against bail

The majority voted against Government amendments, which means they failed. They would have added a presumption against bail into the bill.

What did the amendments do?

According to the relevant supplementary explanatory memorandum:

These government amendments amend the Crimes Act 1914 (the “Crimes Act”) to insert a presumption against bail for Commonwealth child sex offences that attract the highest maximum penalties.

Part 1 of Schedule 9 amends the existing section 15AA of the Crimes Act and creates a presumption against bail for a person alleged to have committed the most serious Commonwealth child sex offences and most second or subsequent offences (excluding section 474.25C). The presumption is intended as a starting point for determining bail as it is inappropriate that such a person be granted bail in relation to these offences unless circumstances exist justifying the grant of bail.

The part also makes a minor amendment to section 15AA of the Crimes Act.

Part 2 of Schedule 9 introduces an offence-based presumption for certain Commonwealth child sex offences. The Government considers that the criminal conduct involved in this crime type targets one of the most vulnerable groups in the community­: children.

While bail conditions may act as an effective deterrent, they are only as good as the practical measures taken to enforce those conditions. The ease in utilising anonymising practices such as encryption and virtual private networks makes the enforcement of conditions particularly difficult where that relates to internet offending.

Amendment text

See sheet JC577 for amendment text.

What does this bill do?

According to its bills digest, the purpose of the Home Affairs Legislation Amendment (Miscellaneous Measures) Bill 2018 is to:

• clarify that where the removal of a non-citizen from the migration zone to another country is unsuccessful, a visa is not required to bring the person back to Australia and they remain subject to statutory bars on subsequent visa applications, where applicable (Schedule 1)
• provide that the Minister may make documents available to a person by way of an online account (Schedule 2)
• provide that the Commonwealth may appropriate money from the Consolidated Revenue Fund to pay refunds, rebates or drawbacks of customs duty in circumstances where those payments have no other statutory basis (Schedule 3)
• specify that regulations may make provision for the charging and recovery of fees in relation to the Passenger Movement Charge (Schedule 4).