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| Ms LAWRIE (Infrastructure and Transport): Madam Speaker, I move that the bill be now read a second time. The bill I introduce today will implement another important measure under the government’s strategy of Building Safer Communities. The bill creates a range of new powers that will enable the Department of Planning and Infrastructure’s Transport Safety Officer functions to move towards one of hands-on law enforcement. The government previously introduced Transport Safety Officers onto the school and passenger bus networks as a safety and security presence on the buses and at bus interchanges. From the beginning, it was evident that the officers were having a very positive effect, improving the level of safety for the travelling public and drivers, as well as acting as ambassadors for Northern Territory public transport. What also became apparent was that the officers needed further powers to enable them to be more effective in dealing with problem passengers and other persons on the bus network. To that end, the Transport Safety Officers were given training and powers to be inspectors under the Commercial Passenger (Road) Transport Act along with the power to issue trespass notices under the Trespass Act. In addition, consultants experienced in Northern Territory law enforcement were employed by the department to further enhance the skills of the Transport Safety Officers and develop closer working relationships between police and Transport Safety Officers. The government did not stop there in its efforts to improve the level of safety and security for the travelling public and for our hard working bus drivers and their support staff. Urgent steps were taken by government to examine how the powers of transport safety officers could be increased so that they had legal authority to intervene in conflict situations and, at the same time, provide the necessary safeguards for the travelling public, the officers themselves and the Territory. The Department of Planning and Infrastructure put together a steering committee of senior officers, including expert representatives from the Northern Territory Police and the Department of Justice to develop the necessary increased powers and safeguards for Transport Safety Officers. The steering committee also drew on the operational processes and legislation used by similar interstate public transport authorities in order to learn from their knowledge and experience in this area. The Department of Planning and Infrastructure also began work on the development of the necessary employment, operational, policy and management structures that are required to support the new Transport Safety Officers’ functions. The key powers and safeguards to be implemented in this bill are: · the Director of Transport, a statutory officer under the Traffic Act will have the power to appoint persons to be known as transit officers; · only suitably-trained transit officers who are public servants employed under the Public Sector Employment and Management Act are to be eligible for appointment as a transit officer; · appointed transit officers are to carry identity cards and are required to produce that card for inspection before exercising any of their powers; · transit officers are also required to produce their identity card for inspection by the public upon request; · transit officers will incur no civil or criminal liability for any act or omission in the exercising of their powers committed in good faith. Where any liability is attached, this liability is attached to the Territory; · rules of behaviour have been created to detail appropriate behaviour by the public on buses and at bus stations – a bus station being a bus interchange or a bus stop. A person must comply with any reasonable directions given by a transit officer in relation to a rule of behaviour, or the person may commit an offence against the act that will be dealt with as an infringement notice offence; · transit officers can exercise their powers on or in the vicinity of a bus, or at or in the vicinity of a bus station; · transit officers have the power to require people to provide their name, address and date of birth and to produce specific evidence of their identity that will assist the officer in the investigation of an offence; · transit officers have the power to direct a person to get off a bus, or to go away and stay away from a bus station where a person has contravened an officer’s direction. A transit officer may use force that is reasonably necessary to remove a person from a bus or bus station where that person has not complied with a direction to go away and stay away; · transit officers have the power where they believe on reasonable grounds that a person has committed an offence warranting arrest, to arrest and detain that person. Unless the person is released beforehand, the transit officer must, as soon as practicable, deliver the arrested person into the custody of a member of the Police Force, including transporting the arrested person to a Police Station to be dealt with according to law. Officers will also be bound by the Youth Justice Act whenever they have grounds to arrest and detain a juvenile, in the same way as a Police Officer is obliged. Offences warranting arrest include certain offences under the Summary Offences Act, the Trespass Act and the Criminal Code Act. Offences warranting arrest include a contravention of a rule of behaviour after a person has been warned by a transit officer to comply. Transit officers are able to, where necessary, carry a frisk search of an arrested person and seize any dangerous articles as well as search any property in the person’s immediate possession for any dangerous articles. When searching a juvenile, transit officers will be bound by the Youth Justice Act in the same way a Police Officer. The bill requires the Director of Transport to establish a system of administrative review for dealing with public complaints about the conduct of transit officers and publish the details for the public to make a complaint and the procedures for review on the agency website. The bill provides for offences where a person obstructs a transit officer from exercising their powers or incites others to obstruct or hinder a transit officer. The bill also makes it an offence to damage or interfere with security cameras on buses and at interchanges. The bill also provides for an infringement notice scheme that operates in a manner similar to schemes already operating in the Northern Territory, such as the Traffic Infringement Notice Scheme under the Traffic Act. The government is aware that these new powers to be exercised by transit officers are akin to those of a police constable and, therefore, see it as critical that people employed to be transit officers meet the highest standards of integrity and character. For that reason, the bill requires that a person intending to be employed as a transit officer provides authority to the Director of Transport to receive and consider their criminal history, including any spent convictions. The need for the highest standards and public confidence is such that the bill ousts the Anti-Discrimination Act as it relates to treating a spent conviction as an irrelevant record for work purposes. Provision has also been made to include a range of disqualifying offences for persons intending to become Transit Officers. No other Territory law enforcement officer has such stringent legislative requirements placed upon their employment. It is also acknowledged by government that to exercise such power of arrest, power of search or power to use force against another must only be exercised by those persons that are firstly suitable for such employment. Before they are employed, applicants will need to pass aptitude, physical fitness, medical and psychological assessments, similar to those faced by police and corrections applicants. Successful applicants to be transit officers will need to successfully complete an accredited training course delivered by a Registered Training Provider. Transit officers will be public servants under the Public Sector Employment and Management Act. The act gives the necessary legislative framework to enable the Director of Transport to manage the performance and discipline of transit officers, and still provide the officers with the principles of natural justice and procedural fairness. As a further safeguard, the bill allows the Director to authorise a written code of conduct detailing standards of integrity and behaviour to be observed by transit officers. A contravention of the code of conduct will be grounds for the Director to investigate the grounds for continued employment and appointment of a person to be a public servant and/or a transit officer. Part 3 of the bill details the rules of behaviour for all persons travelling on buses and at bus stations. These rules of behaviour have mostly been drawn from the Passenger Bus Regulations and have now been placed centrally in this bill. For that reason, this bill repeals those applicable regulations from the Passenger Bus Regulations. The bill preserves the powers of bus drivers and inspectors by making them ex-officio transit officers but without the power of arrest, power of search or power to use force against another. This enables bus drivers and inspectors to direct passengers as required, and for inspectors and other authorised persons to issue infringement notices as they have done under the Passenger Bus Regulations. The rules of behaviour are offences of strict liability that have a maximum penalty of 20 penalty units, that is $2200, however, where appropriate, allowance has been made for transit officers to make reasonable directions for compliance and for a person to comply with a direction of an officer as soon as is practicable. Part 4 of the bill relating to the powers of transit officers has been given careful consideration, such that powers of a transit officer to arrest, search and use force are set at the same level as that of a police officer. This is important as it is a requirement for a transit officer to deliver an arrested person into the custody of a member of the police force, to be dealt with under law. If the standards of evidence were different between the two agencies this could lead to a situation where alleged offenders may need to be released without charge, or held while further evidence was obtained. A memorandum of understanding between Northern Territory Police and the Department of Planning and Infrastructure will be developed to establish the necessary levels of support and cooperation between the agencies to underpin transit officer operations. This bill will result in transit officers being able to provide a more effective, safety and security presence on the school and passenger bus networks. Transit officers will be specially selected and appropriately trained and equipped for this function. Transit officers will operate within a professional management structure that will see the careful and considered exercising of these new powers. At the same time the bill provides for stringent safeguards for the benefit of the travelling public, the transit officers themselves, and the Territory. I am sure honourable members will support this important new bill that strengthens the government’s strategic intent of building safer communities and provides another arm of law enforcement to assist the police in the shared goal of maintaining public law and order. The travelling public and the wider community have a right to expect they should be safe when they are travelling on buses or waiting at bus interchanges and that they have the protection of transit officers who have the appropriate training, equipment and powers to deal lawfully and fairly with those persons who transgress the laws of the Territory. Madam Speaker, I commend the bill to honourable members. Debate adjourned. |