Collins Judith: Sentencing (Aggravating Factors) Amendment Bill — Second Reading 
Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume 
Collins Judith: Sentencing (Aggravating Factors) Amendment Bill — Second Reading 
[Sitting date: 07 February 2012. Volume:677;Page:155. Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume.] 
Hon JUDITH COLLINS (Minister of Justice) 
: 
 I move  
That the Sentencing (Aggravating Factors) Amendment Bill be now read a second time 
. Let me first extend my thanks to the Law and Order Committee for its work on the Sentencing (Aggravating Factors) Amendment Bill. The committee received 11 submissions on the bill and has recommended that it proceed without amendment.  
This bill demonstrates the Government’s support for front-line law enforcement staff. It helps to protect our police and corrections officers by explicitly denouncing those offenders who commit offences against these officers while acting in the course of their duties. Without this amendment the courts are not under any obligation to consider the fact that an offence has been committed against a police or corrections officer as an aggravating factor in sentencing. The current law includes a number of offences that apply specifically to police and corrections officers. However when an assault on a police or corrections officer is serious the offender is charged with a generic offence such as attempted murder or wounding with intent to injure. Generic offences do not specifically recognise that the victim in a particular case was a police or corrections officer acting in the course of his or her duty. The absence of a specific aggravating factor in section 9 of the Sentencing Act means this fact does not have to be considered by the courts at all when an offender has been convicted of a generic offence.  
This bill creates a specific aggravating factor for offences against police and corrections officers making it mandatory for judges to consider the fact that the victim was a police or corrections officer as an aggravating factor in sentencing. The bill sends a strong signal that assaults against police and corrections officers will not be tolerated. We know the number of assaults on police and corrections officers has increased over the years. The Government believes the role of police and corrections officers as the first line of defence for the public is deserving of enhanced protection. This bill ensures that our police and corrections officers are given the level of State protection that they deserve.  
Police and corrections officers have a legal obligation to deal with dangerous people in dangerous situations. This obligation is unlike that applicable to any other occupation. Where staff in other occupations can walk away police and corrections officers must move forward to deal with dangerous situations on behalf of the community as our front line of defence. Our police and corrections officers are responsible for keeping our communities safe from the most dangerous people in society so it is important that the Government reciprocates by taking a firm stance on assaults against our front-line officers and that the Government expressly denounces this abhorrent behaviour.  
This bill demonstrates this firm stance. This bill shows that the Government is taking assaults against our police and corrections officers seriously by requiring the courts to specifically consider this as an aggravating factor in sentencing offenders. I commend this bill to the House.