Roy Heather: Policing (Storage of Youth Identifying Particulars) Amendment Bill — First Reading Second Reading In Committee 
Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume 
Roy Heather: Policing (Storage of Youth Identifying Particulars) Amendment Bill — First Reading Second Reading In Committee 
[Sitting date: 16 August 2011. Volume:675;Page:20854. Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume.] 
Hon HEATHER ROY (ACT) 
: 
 I rise to speak to the first reading of the Policing (Storage of Youth Identifying Particulars) Amendment Bill. The ACT Party is supporting this bill. Although I frequently agree with the principled points that the previous Green speaker Keith Locke makes about urgency and parliamentary process we do not believe in this particular case that there is any sinister intent here at all.  
My understanding is that the Policing Act 2008 contained a drafting error that removed the police’s ability to retain fingerprints and photographs or to identify particulars of youth as they previously could under the Police Act 1958. Prior to that error youth identifying particulars could be stored for young people where a Youth Court made an order under section 283(a) to (n) of the Children Young Persons and Their Families Act. The error has meant that youth identifying particulars can be kept for young people only when an order is made under section 283(o) of the Act. It was certainly intended that the provisions for retaining youth identifying particulars in the Police Act 1958 be carried over into the Policing Act 2008. The bill that we have before us today in the House merely seeks to reinstate those provisions.  
I recall when the Policing Act under the stewardship of the Hon Annette King was being moved through and the preparatory work was being done. I would have to say that the then Minister of Police consulted very widely. I remember several occasions when she made her officials available to Opposition MPs such as me and a number of issues were discussed. I think it was a genuine oversight in the drafting of the legislation although that is not to say that we should not be more careful that everything is absolutely right. The Hon Annette King has in fact made that point herself in the House this morning. So there is a degree of regulatory responsibility we should be very cognisant of but it is totally unacceptable that we should have the police acting unlawfully. This bill is very much needed.  
Given that the intent was always that this provision would be in the Police Act 2008 I would on this rare occasion say that urgency is being absolutely appropriately used. It is important that this error be rectified as quickly as is possible. We have heard from other speakers that the police have collected youth identifying particulars for around 2 years unlawfully as they were unaware that there had been this legal change. This situation needs to be rectified very quickly as I said.  
This bill will not extend—and this point is very important—the police’s ability to collect or retain youth identifying particulars beyond what the 1958 Act intended. So in essence there is no change at all in the intent of collection of youth identifying particulars. It is merely rectifying the legislation and putting in place the provisions that were intended and should be there quite rightly. The ACT Party will be supporting this bill.