South Australian Consolidated Acts South Australian Consolidated Acts28—Investigation of matters by Authority
(1) Where the
Authority has made a determination under section 23 that a matter should
be investigated by him or her, the investigation is to be conducted in private
and, subject to this section, in such manner as he or she thinks fit.
(2) Whenever it
becomes necessary or desirable for the Authority to use persons with police
training in connection with his or her investigation of a matter, he or she
may, and must insofar as it is practicable to do so, use, in connection with
that investigation—
(a) a
police officer who is made available to him or her by the Commissioner for the
purposes of the investigation; or
(b) a
member of the police force of the Commonwealth or of another State or a
Territory of the Commonwealth whom that police force agrees to make available
to the Authority, for the purposes of the investigation, under arrangements
made by or with the approval of the Minister.
(3) Subject to this
section, the Authority may, for the purposes of an investigation under this
section make inquiries and obtain information, property, documents or other
records relevant to the investigation, as he or she thinks fit.
(3a) Where the
Authority seeks information, property, documents or other records from a
person under subsection (3), that person must not, if so directed in
writing by the Authority, divulge or communicate to any other person the fact
that the investigation is being or has been carried out or that he or she has
been requested or required to provide information, property, documents or
other records.
Maximum penalty: $2 500 or imprisonment for 6 months.
(3b)
Subsection (3a) does not prevent—
(a) a
person from whom information, property, documents or other records have been
sought from consulting—
(i)
a legal practitioner; or
(ii)
some other person with the Authority's approval (which
may be a general approval or given in a particular case),
in relation to the matter under investigation;
(b) a
designated officer whose conduct has been under investigation from divulging
or communicating particulars of the outcome of the investigation as furnished
or registered under section 36 (including any comments made by the
Authority when furnishing any of those particulars).
(3c) If a person
consulted under subsection (3b)(a) obtains information as a result of the
consultation that the person who initiated the consultation is (apart from
that subsection) prohibited from divulging or communicating, the person so
consulted must not divulge or communicate that information.
Maximum penalty: $2 500 or imprisonment for 6 months.
(4) It is not
necessary for the complainant (if the investigation relates to a complaint) or
any other person to be afforded an opportunity to appear before the Authority
or any other person in connection with an investigation by the Authority under
this section.
(6) The Authority may,
by notice in writing, require a person whom he or she believes to be capable
of giving information relevant to an investigation under this section to
furnish to him or her in writing, within a period specified in the notice,
such information, and to produce to him or her such property, documents and
other records, being information, property, documents or records relevant to
the investigation, as are specified in the notice.
(7) For the purposes
of an investigation under this section, the Authority may, by notice in
writing, require—
(a) if
the investigation relates to a complaint, the complainant or person on whose
behalf the complaint was made; or
(b) a
designated officer or any other person who is, in the opinion of the
Authority, able to give information relevant to the investigation,
to attend before him or her at a time and place specified in the notice and
there to answer questions relevant to the investigation.
(8) The Authority
must, before directing questions to the designated officer whose conduct is
under investigation (whether or not that officer has been required to attend
under subsection (7)), inform the officer of the particulars of the
matter under investigation.
(9) Where the Minister
furnishes to the Authority a certificate certifying that the disclosure of
information concerning a specified matter (including the furnishing of
information in answer to a question) or the disclosure of the contents of any
documents or records would be contrary to the public interest, by reason of
the fact that it would involve the disclosure of deliberations or decisions of
the Cabinet or of a Committee of the Cabinet, the Authority is not entitled to
require a person to furnish any information concerning the matter, or to
produce those documents or records, to the Authority.
(10) A person must
not—
(a)
without reasonable excuse—
(i)
fail to attend before a person; or
(ii)
refuse or fail to furnish information, produce property,
a document or other record or answer a question,
when so required under this section; or
(b)
furnish information or make a statement to the Authority or an
authorised person knowing that it is false or misleading in a material
particular.
(11) Where—
(a) a
person other than a designated officer contravenes subsection (10), he or
she is guilty of an offence and liable to a penalty not exceeding $2 500;
or
(b) a
designated officer contravenes subsection (10), he or she may be dealt
with under the Police Act 1998 or Protective Security Act 2007 (as
the case requires) for breach of discipline.
(12) Despite the
provisions of any enactment, a person is not excused from furnishing any
information, producing property, a document or other record or answering a
question when required to do so under this section on the ground that—
(a) the
furnishing of the information, the production of the property, the document or
record or the answering of the question—
(i)
would contravene the provisions of any other enactment;
or
(ii)
would be contrary to the public interest; or
(b) in
the case of a person who is a designated officer, the information, the
property, the document or record or the answer to the question might tend to
show that he or she has committed a breach of discipline; or
(c) the
information, the document or record or the answer to the question would
disclose legal advice furnished to a Minister, the Commissioner or to the
police force.
(13) A person may
refuse to furnish information, produce property, a document or record or
answer a question if the information, the property, the document or record or
the answer to the question—
(a)
might tend to incriminate him or her; or
(b)
might tend to incriminate a close relative of his or hers; or
(c)
might tend to show that a close relative of his or hers who is a
designated officer has committed a breach of discipline,
but any such refusal on the part of a designated officer may be dealt with
under the Police Act 1998 or Protective Security Act 2007 (as the
case requires) as a breach of discipline.
(15) A person who
furnishes information, produces property, a document or record or answers a
question is not liable to a penalty under the provisions of any other
enactment prohibiting such an act if the act is done in compliance with a
requirement made of the person under this section.
(16) For the purposes
of an investigation under this section, the Authority or an authorised person
may, at any reasonable time of the day, enter any premises used by the police
force or protective security officers, or any other place, and may carry on
the investigation at that place and for that purpose inspect any documents or
records relevant to the investigation kept at that place (other than a
document in respect of which the Minister has furnished a certificate under
subsection (9)).
(17) The power of
entry conferred by subsection (16) must not be exercised by any person in
relation to premises in which any person resides or carries on business unless
a magistrate is satisfied that there are reasonable grounds for the exercise
of the power and issues a warrant authorising the person to enter the
premises.
(18) A person who,
without reasonable excuse, wilfully obstructs, hinders or resists the
Authority or any other person in the exercise of his or her powers under this
section—
(a) in
the case of a person other than a designated officer—is guilty of an
offence and liable to a penalty not exceeding $2 500;
(b) in
the case of a designated officer—may be dealt with under the Police
Act 1998 or Protective Security Act 2007 (as the case requires) for
breach of discipline.
(19) Where a
designated officer is of the opinion that he or she might, in complying with a
requirement of the Authority or an authorised person made in the exercise of
his or her powers under this section, disclose information that should be the
subject of a certificate of the Commissioner under section 48(3), the
officer is entitled to refuse to comply with the requirement for such period
(not exceeding 48 hours) as is necessary for the purpose of enabling the
Commissioner to determine whether or not to furnish such a certificate in
respect of the information.
(20) A person
exercising or proposing to exercise any powers under this section must, on
demand by a person in relation to whom the powers are or are to be exercised,
produce for his or her inspection a certificate of authority in the prescribed
form.
(20a) This section
does not limit or affect the powers or duties that a designated officer would
have apart from this Act in connection with the investigation of an offence.
(21) In this
section—
"authorised person" means a person appointed by the Authority to be an
authorised person for the purposes of this section;
"designated officer" does not include a prescribed officer or employee.