CHILD SEX OFFENDERS REGISTRATION ACT 2006 - SECT 4

CHILD SEX OFFENDERS REGISTRATION ACT 2006 - SECT 4

4—Interpretation

        (1)         In this Act, unless the contrary intention appears—

"child" means a person under the age of 18 years;

"child sex offender registration order" means an order made under section 9 and includes a corresponding child sex offender registration order;

"class 1 offence" means an offence listed in Schedule 1 Part 2;

"class 2 offence" means an offence listed in Schedule 1 Part 3;

"Commissioner" means the Commissioner of Police;

"corresponding child sex offender registration order" means an order made under a corresponding law that falls within a class of order that the regulations state is a corresponding child sex offender registration order for the purposes of this Act;

"corresponding law" means a law of a foreign jurisdiction—

            (a)         that requires people who have committed specified offences to report, in that jurisdiction, information about themselves and to keep that information current for a specified period; and

            (b)         that is declared by the regulations to be a corresponding law for the purposes of this Act;

"corresponding registrar" means the person whose duties and functions under a corresponding law most closely correspond to the duties and functions of the Commissioner under this Act;

"court" includes a court (however described) of a foreign jurisdiction but does not include a family conference within the meaning of the Young Offenders Act 1993 ;

"criminal intelligence" means information relating to actual or suspected criminal activity (whether in this State or elsewhere) the disclosure of which could reasonably be expected to prejudice criminal investigations, to enable the discovery of the existence or identity of a confidential source of information relevant to law enforcement or to endanger a person's life or physical safety;

"detainee" means a person who—

            (a)         is detained in a training centre within the meaning of the Young Offenders Act 1993 ; or

            (b)         is detained as a result of being declared liable to supervision under Part 8A of the Criminal Law Consolidation Act 1935 ;

"disability" means intellectual disability or physical disability;

Note—

The meaning of "disability" is affected by subsection (3).

"existing licensee" means a person who has been released from government custody on licence and includes a person who has a similar status under the laws of a foreign jurisdiction;

"finding of guilt" in relation to an offence committed by a person (however expressed) means—

            (a)         a court making a formal finding of guilt in relation to the offence; or

            (b)         a court accepting a plea of guilty or other admission of guilt from the person in relation to the offence; or

            (c)         a court declaring under Part 8A of the Criminal Law Consolidation Act 1935 that the person is liable to supervision in relation to the offence, or an equivalent declaration or finding under the law of a foreign jurisdiction; or

            (d)         in the case of conduct that is, under section 5, equated with an offence for the purposes of this Act, a court making a formal finding that the person engaged in that conduct,

but does not include a finding of guilt that is subsequently quashed or set aside by a court;

"fingerscan" means fingerprints taken by means of a device to obtain a record of the fingerprints;

"foreign jurisdiction" means a jurisdiction other than South Australia (including jurisdictions outside Australia);

"foreign registrable offence" means an offence that is not a registrable offence under this Act but that is specified in a corresponding law as an offence the commission of which results in a requirement that the offender report, in the jurisdiction in which the corresponding law is in force, information about himself or herself;

"foreign registrable offender" has the meaning set out in section 7;

"foreign witness protection law" means a law of a foreign jurisdiction that provides for the protection of witnesses;

"good behaviour bond" means a bond entered into under the Sentencing Act 2017 ;

"government custody" means—

            (a)         custody as a prisoner or detainee; or

            (b)         custody under a law of a foreign jurisdiction in the nature of custody referred to in paragraph (a);

"intellectual disability" means permanent or temporary loss or imperfect development of mental faculties resulting in reduced intellectual capacity;

"New South Wales Act" means the Child Protection (Offenders Registration) Act 2000 of New South Wales;

"New South Wales registrable offender" has the meaning set out in section 8;

"offence" includes conduct that is, under section 5, equated with an offence for the purposes of this Act;

"parole" means an order made under Part 6 Division 3 of the Correctional Services Act 1982 and includes any equivalent order made under the laws of a foreign jurisdiction;

"personal details" means the information listed in section 13(1);

"physical disability" means—

            (a)         the total or partial loss of any function of the body; or

            (b)         the total or partial loss of any part of the body; or

            (c)         the malfunctioning of any part of the body; or

            (d)         the malformation or disfigurement of any part of the body,

whether permanent or temporary, but does not include intellectual disability;

"prisoner" has the same meaning as in the Correctional Services Act 1982 ;

"register" means the register of registrable offenders established under section 60;

"registrable offence" means—

            (a)         a class 1 offence; or

            (b)         a class 2 offence; or

            (c)         an offence that results in the making of a child sex offender registration order;

"registrable offender" has the meaning set out in section 6;

"registrable repeat offender" means a registrable offender who has (whether before or after the commencement of this Act) committed—

            (a)         on at least 3 separate occasions, a class 1 or class 2 offence; or

            (b)         on at least 2 separate occasions, a class 1 or class 2 offence provided that on each occasion the victim was under the age of 14 years;

"reportable contact" has the meaning set out in section 4A;

"reporting obligations", in relation to a registrable offender, means the obligations imposed on him or her under Part 3;

"reporting period" means the period, as determined under Part 3 Division 5, during which a registrable offender must comply with his or her reporting obligations;

"sentence", in relation to an offence, includes—

            (a)         the imposition of a penalty for the offence, or the making of any other order or direction consequent on a finding of guilt in relation to the offence (including an order or direction requiring a person to enter into a bond); and

            (b)         the making of a declaration under Part 8A of the Criminal Law Consolidation Act 1935 that a person charged with the offence is liable to supervision; and

            (c)         the making of a restraining order under section 99AA of the Summary Procedure Act 1921 where the grounds for making the order consist of, or include, the commission of the offence; and

            (d)         the making of any equivalent order or declaration under the laws of a foreign jurisdiction;

"serious registrable offender" means—

            (a)         a registrable repeat offender; or

            (b)         a registrable offender who has been declared to be a serious registrable offender under Part 2A;

"strict supervision" means—

            (a)         supervision by a person or body whose functions or powers include supervision of persons in government custody or persons subject to a supervised sentence; and

            (b)         supervision by an authority of a foreign jurisdiction in the nature of an authority referred to in paragraph (a);

"supervised sentence" means—

            (a)         parole; or

            (b)         a sentence of home detention; or

            (c)         a sentence of community service; or

            (d)         a good behaviour bond under which the person entering into the bond is required to submit to strict supervision; or

            (e)         a supervision order within the meaning of Part 8A of the Criminal Law Consolidation Act 1935 under which the person the subject of the order is released on licence;

"supervising authority", in relation to an offender, means the authority prescribed by the regulations as the supervising authority in relation to the class of offender to which he or she belongs.

        (2)         For the purposes of this Act, offences "arise from the same incident" only if—

            (a)         they are committed by the offender within a single period of 24 hours and are committed against the same person; or

            (b)         they are the result of a single act or omission of the offender (whether committed against the same person or not).

        (3)         For the purposes of this Act and without limiting the meaning of "disability" given by subsection (1), a person has a disability if he or she is being detained as a result of a court declaring under Part 8A of the Criminal Law Consolidation Act 1935 that the person is liable to supervision in relation to an offence.

        (4)         A reference to doing a thing "in person" in this Act is a reference to doing the thing by personal attendance at a place (and does not include attendance by telephone or by any other electronic means).

        (5)         A reference in this Act to the making of a restraining order under section 99AA of the Summary Procedure Act 1921 includes a reference to the making of an order under the Sentencing Act 2017 that has effect as a restraining order under section 99AA of the Summary Procedure Act 1921 .