Police Offences Amendment (Loitering Near Children) Act 2000

Police Offences Amendment (Loitering Near Children) Act 2000

An Act to amend the Police Offences Act 1935

Be it enacted by His Excellency the Governor of Tasmania, by and with the advice and consent of the Legislative Council and House of Assembly, in Parliament assembled, as follows:

1.   Short title

This Act may be cited as the Police Offences Amendment (Loitering Near Children) Act 2000 .

2.   Commencement

This Act commences on the day on which this Act receives the Royal Assent.

3.   Principal Act

In this Act, the Police Offences Act 1935 is referred to as the Principal Act.

4.    Section 3 amended (Interpretation)

Section 3(1) of the Principal Act is amended by inserting after the definition of public place the following definition:

sexual offence means any of the following offences committed against or in respect of a person:

(a) an offence under section 122 or 123 of the Criminal Code as in force immediately before 14 May 1997;

(b) an offence under section 124 , 125 , 125A , 126 , 127 , 127A , 128 , 129 , 133 , 185 or 186 of the Criminal Code;

(c) an offence under section 298 or 299 of the Criminal Code in respect of an offence specified in paragraph (a) or (b) ;

(d) an offence under section 8(1A)(a) or section 35(3) of this Act;

(e) an offence under Part 8 of the Classification (Publications, Films and Computer Games) Enforcement Act 1995 in respect of a child abuse product, within the meaning of that Part;

(f) an offence not specified in paragraph (a) , (b) , (c) or (d) if there are reasonable grounds to believe that, in the course of or as part of the events surrounding the commission of that offence, an offence specified in paragraph (a) , (b) , (c) or (d) was also committed by the offender;

(g) an offence against the law of any jurisdiction other than Tasmania which is of substantially the same nature as an offence referred to in paragraph (a) , (b) , (c) , (d) , (e) or (f) ;

5.    Section 7A inserted

After section 7 of the Principal Act , the following section is inserted in Division I:

7A.   Loitering near children

(1)  For the purposes of this section, a person loiters near children if the person loiters at, or in the vicinity of –

(a) a school; or

(b) any of the following, while children are present:

(i) a public toilet;

(ii) a playground;

(iii) a swimming pool;

(iv) a games arcade;

(v) any other place at which children are commonly present.

(2)  A person who has been found guilty of a sexual offence must not, without reasonable excuse, loiter near children.

Penalty:  Fine not exceeding 50 penalty units or imprisonment for a term not exceeding 2 years, or both.

[Second reading presentation speech made in:

House of Assembly on 21 JUNE 2000

Legislative Council on 28 JUNE 2000]