Contents
Part 1 · Preliminary
1Short title#
This Act may be cited as the Parliamentary Joint Committee on Law Enforcement Act 2010.
3Definitions#
In this Act:
AFP means the Australian Federal Police.
AFP appointee has the same meaning as in the Australian Federal Police Act 1979.
AFP conduct or practices issue has the same meaning as in the Australian Federal Police Act 1979.
law enforcement agency means:
(b)the AFP; or
(c)a Police Force of a State; or
(d)any other authority or person responsible for the enforcement of the laws of the Commonwealth or of the States.
member means a member of the Committee.
sensitive information means information that, if disclosed:
(a)could prejudice:
(i)the security, defence or international relations of Australia; or
(b)would disclose:
(i)deliberations or decisions of the Cabinet, or of a Committee of the Cabinet, of the Commonwealth or of a State; or
(ii)deliberations or decisions of the Australian Capital Territory Executive or of a committee of that Executive; or
(iii)deliberations or advice of the Federal Executive Council or the Executive Council of a State or the Northern Territory; or
(c)could reveal, or enable a person to ascertain, the existence or identity of a confidential source of information in relation to:
(i)the enforcement of the criminal law of the Commonwealth, a State or Territory or a foreign country; or
(ii)an investigation relating to misconduct or alleged misconduct by an AFP appointee; or
(iv)an investigation into an AFP conduct or practices issue; or
(d)could endanger a person’s life or physical safety; or
(e)could prejudice the protection of public safety; or
(f)could prejudice the fair trial of a person or the impartial adjudication of a matter; or
(g)could prejudice the proper enforcement of the law or the operations of law enforcement agencies; or
(h)could prejudice a person’s reputation; or
(i)would disclose information the disclosure of which is prohibited (absolutely or subject to qualifications) by or under another law of the Commonwealth; or
(j)would unreasonably disclose personal information (within the meaning of the Privacy Act 1988); or
(k)would unreasonably disclose confidential commercial information.
State includes the Australian Capital Territory and the Northern Territory.
the Committee means the Parliamentary Joint Committee on Law Enforcement for the time being constituted under this Act.
Part 2 · Parliamentary Joint Committee on Law Enforcement
5Parliamentary Joint Committee on Law Enforcement#
(1)As soon as practicable after the commencement of the first session of each Parliament, a joint committee of members of the Parliament, to be known as the Parliamentary Joint Committee on Law Enforcement, is to be appointed according to the practice of the Parliament.
(2)The Committee is to consist of 10 members, namely, 5 members of the Senate appointed by the Senate, and 5 members of the House of Representatives appointed by that House.
(3)A member of the Parliament is not eligible for appointment as a member of the Committee if he or she is:
(a)a Minister; or
(b)the President of the Senate; or
(c)the Speaker of the House of Representatives.
(4)A member ceases to hold office:
(a)when the House of Representatives expires by effluxion of time or is dissolved; or
(b)if he or she becomes the holder of an office specified in any of the paragraphs of subsection (3); or
(c)if he or she ceases to be a member of the House of the Parliament by which he or she was appointed; or
(d)if he or she resigns his or her office as provided by subsection (5) or (6).
(5)A member appointed by the Senate may resign his or her office by writing signed by him or her and delivered to the President of the Senate.
(6)A member appointed by the House of Representatives may resign his or her office by writing signed by him or her and delivered to the Speaker of that House.
(7)Either House of the Parliament may appoint one of its members to fill a vacancy amongst the members of the Committee appointed by that House.
6Powers and proceedings of the Committee#
All matters relating to the powers and proceedings of the Committee are to be determined by resolution of both Houses of the Parliament.
7Functions of the Committee#
(1)The Committee has the following functions:
(d)to monitor and to review the performance by the AFP of its functions;
(e)to report to both Houses of the Parliament, with such comments as it thinks fit, upon any matter appertaining to the AFP or connected with the performance of its functions to which, in the opinion of the Committee, the attention of the Parliament should be directed;
(f)to examine each annual report on the AFP and report to the Parliament on any matter appearing in, or arising out of, any such annual report;
(g)to examine trends and changes in criminal activities, practices and methods and report to both Houses of the Parliament any change which the Committee thinks desirable to the functions, structure, powers and procedures of the AFP;
(h)to inquire into any question in connection with its functions which is referred to it by either House of the Parliament, and to report to that House upon that question.
Note: For the functions of the AFP, see section 8 of the Australian Federal Police Act 1979.
(2)The functions of the Committee do not include:
(c)reviewing sensitive operational information or operational methods available to the AFP; or
(d)reviewing particular operations or investigations that have been, are being or are proposed to be undertaken by the AFP; or
(e)reviewing information provided by, or by an agency of, a foreign government where that government does not consent to the disclosure of the information; or
(f)conducting inquiries into individual complaints about the activities of the AFP; or
(g)monitoring, reviewing or reporting on the performance by the AFP of its functions under Part 5.3 of the Criminal Code.
(3)To avoid doubt, the Committee may examine, and report to both Houses of the Parliament on, information given to it under section 8 or 9.
9Disclosure to Committee by Commissioner of the AFP#
(1)Subject to subsection (2), the Commissioner of the AFP:
(a)must comply with a request by the Committee to give the Committee information in relation to an investigation that the AFP has conducted or is conducting; and
(b)must when requested by the Committee, and may at such other times as the Commissioner thinks appropriate, inform the Committee concerning the general performance of the AFP’s functions.
(2)The Commissioner of the AFP may decide not to comply with the request if the Commissioner is satisfied that:
(a)the information is sensitive information; and
(b)the public interest that would be served by giving the information to the Committee is outweighed by the prejudicial consequences that might result from giving the information to the Committee.
(3)If the Commissioner of the AFP does not give information to the Committee because of subsection (2), the Committee may refer the request to the Minister responsible for the AFP.
(4)If the Committee refers the request to the Minister responsible for the AFP, the Minister responsible for the AFP:
(a)must determine in writing whether:
(i)the information is sensitive information; and
(ii)if it is, whether the public interest that would be served by giving the information to the Committee is outweighed by the prejudicial consequences that might result from giving the information to the Committee; and
(b)must provide copies of that determination to the Commissioner of the AFP and the Committee.
(5)The Minister responsible for the AFP is not required to disclose his or her reasons for making a determination under subsection (4).
(6)A determination made by the Minister responsible for the AFP under subsection (4) is not a legislative instrument.
10Ombudsman to brief Committee about controlled operations#
(1)At least once in each calendar year the Ombudsman must provide a briefing to the Committee about the involvement of the AFP in controlled operations under Part IAB of the Crimes Act 1914 during the preceding 12 months.
(2)For the purposes of receiving a briefing from the Ombudsman under subsection (1), the Committee must meet in private.
Part 3 · Miscellaneous
Sourced from the Federal Register of Legislation at legislation.gov.au, © Commonwealth of Australia, licensed under CC BY 4.0. Compilations may have been reformatted.