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Corbell moves on anti-bikie laws

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SIMON Corbell has announced a strategy to disrupt serious and organised criminal organisations in the ACT. The strategy comes with the introduction of new laws and the release of a discussion paper on potential consorting laws.

“The Crimes (Serious and Organised Crime) Legislation Amendment Bill 2016, introduced to the Legislative Assembly today, aims to increase the number of sentences imposed by a court that can include non-association and place restriction orders, introduces a new bail review power for the Director of Public Prosecutions, and modernises and clarifies move-on powers,” Simon said.

“The discussion paper on potential laws for the ACT that could give police and magistrates the power to issue warnings to convicted offenders, members of criminal groups and those who associate with them not to consort has been released for public comment.

“These proposed changes show the government is very serious about combating serious and organised crime in the territory.

“The Bill makes a number of important changes that will strengthen the ACT’s response to serious and organised criminal organisations, particularly outlaw motorcycle gangs.

“It will give the justice system improved capabilities to prevent and target crime at an individual level, where it has been shown most effective and disruptive to organised criminal activity.”

“The changes will help police to respond more effectively to outlaw motorcycle gang activities, which commonly include violence, drug trafficking and money laundering. The laws will also target other types of organised criminal groups that focus their activities on child sex offending, property crime or fraud.

“The discussion paper includes proposals for police and magistrate-issued consorting warnings to target consorting convicted offenders, members of criminal groups and those who associate with them. The proposal outlines an offence punishable by up to 2 years in prison for people who have been served a consorting warning and have been found to intentionally consort two or more times.

“The model was developed in close consultation with ACT Policing and draws on the NSW experience and a model recently recommended to the Queensland government.

“This paper provides a comprehensive overview of serious and organised crime in Australia and the way that consorting laws can be used specifically to frustrate this type of criminal activity, with a focus on outlaw motorcycle gangs.

“It includes important safeguards including defences where the consorting was with a family member or in the course of employment, and the option to seek administrative review of the decision to issue a warning.”

A key consideration is ensuring the model complies with the ACT’s human rights framework and any proposals are reasonable and proportionate in responding to harmful criminal activity.

“The discussion paper provides an important opportunity for the government, key stakeholders and the community more broadly to examine the utility of consorting laws and provide input on whether they would be a suitable and useful response to serious and organised crime in the ACT,” Mr Corbell said.

“Dealing with this type of crime is not an easy task – the Australian Crime Commission reports that serious and organised crime costs the Australian economy at least $36 billion per year.

The picture of organised criminal activity in the ACT is not the same as in other jurisdictions, and these groups are flexible and adaptable. It would be unwise to introduce a legislative scheme in the ACT that simply copies what has been done in other jurisdictions.

“This is why the government has worked closely with ACT Policing and commonwealth law enforcement agencies to ensure that these laws are tough, targeted, proportionate, and workable.”

The discussion paper is available at justice.act.gov.au and timetotalk.act.gov.au. Consultation closes on 7 July 2016.

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