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Other Information

The Police Powers and Responsibilities and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 2011 and Explanatory Notes are available from the Office of the Queensland Parliamentary Counsel.

The Hansard transcript of the explanatory speech for the Bill can be found online.

Referral

On 25 August 2011 the Minister for Police, Corrective Services and Emergency Services, Hon Neil Roberts, introduced the Police Powers and Responsibilities and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 2011 into the Queensland Parliament. Subsequently, Parliament referred the Bill to the Legal Affairs, Police, Corrective Services and Emergency Services Committee for detailed consideration.

The committee reported back to the Parliament on 11 November 2011.

The Bill

The Bill proposes to widen the powers of Queensland Police officers. The Bill would allow:

• pat-down searches of persons detained under certain provisions for maintaining public order;
• pat-down searches of minors suspected of unlawfully possessing alcohol;
• changes extinguishing the right to enforce a charge or security interest registered against an impounded motor vehicle that is to be sold;
• police to, where practicable, leave a notice when entering a place to provide relief to an animal suffering from lack of food or water;
• changes to community service orders imposed as an alternative to vehicle impoundments;
• changes to the taking of DNA samples, including samples from child victims;
• non-government forensic laboratory analysis of DNA samples;
• expansion of the circumstances in which a disease test order can be obtained;
• police to act on anonymous noise complaints;
• the extension of the noise abatement period to up to four days;
• police to exclude an occupier from accompanying a police officer during certain searches, for safety reasons;
• police reconnaissance of property prior to installation of a surveillance device under the terms of a warrant;
• involvement of civilian participants in controlled activities like, for example, introducing undercover police officers to drug dealers; and
• the inclusion of additional offences in relation to a prostitute providing sexual intercourse or oral sex without a prophylactic being used, to provide immunity for a police officer.