Crime reduction

Declan’s Law strengthens bail laws to hold repeat offenders accountable.

Under the bail reforms the following will apply:

• All serious violent offenders, with or without a weapon, start with a position of no bail.
  • The amendments remove the existing requirement for use, or threatened use, of a weapon for there to be a position of no bail.
  • The amendments expand the position of no bail to apply to youths.
  • Examples of a serious violent offence include threats to kill, recklessly endangering life, assault offences, and sexual offences.
• Any breach of bail will be an offence. The legislation reinstates breach of bail as an offence for youths.

• Presumption against bail for anyone found guilty of 2 or more serious offences in the previous 2 years and those that are alleged to have committed a serious offence while on bail for a serious offence.
  • A serious offence is different to serious violent offence.
  • Examples of a serious offence include possessing a dangerous drug, escaping lawful custody and stealing.
• Mandatory electronic monitoring for repeat serious offenders who are granted bail. Previously this was a decision for the court.

Declan’s Law will give police more powers to detect and respond to knife crime.

The amendments are:

• More police ranks, including an officer in charge of a police station, who can approve the use of hand-held scanners (wands).
• Simplified rules for the hand-held scanner approval process.
• Police will be able to use wands in more public places, not just high risk areas. This includes public transport and schools.
• Increased duration of authorised use of a wand in a public place from 12 hours to 72 hours.

This change will enhance protection for all frontline workers and increase penalties towards those who assault any workers, with extra penalties for assaults on police officers and emergency service workers.

Police officers and emergency services workers

Spitting is often involved in assaults on police and emergency workers. The risk of exposure to communicable disease when spat on is high, which causes stress and trauma for those workers.

• Assault on a police officer or emergency service worker where physical harm is caused, or spitting on a person is involved in the offending, will now carry a mandatory minimum sentence of 3 months imprisonment. This also applies to first-time offenders.
  • Previously there was no mandatory minimum sentence for a first-time offender or if the offence involved spitting.
• Assault on a police officer or emergency service worker where no physical harm is caused will now attract a mandatory community corrections order that requires the offender to undertake community work. This also applies to first-time offenders.
  • Previously there was no mandatory minimum sentence.

Any worker

Previously there were no mandatory minimum sentences for assaults on any worker carrying out their duties.

• Assault of any worker carrying out their duties if there is physical harm and a prior violence offence now has a mandatory minimum sentence of a term of actual imprisonment.
• Assault of any worker carrying out their duties if there is physical harm and is a first offence, will now attract a mandatory community corrections order that requires community work to be undertaken by the offender.

To address ram raiding and posting and boasting on social media for notoriety, new laws will strengthen penalties to prevent such criminal activities:

• It is now an offence to use a vehicle to ram raid a property with the intention of damaging or entering the property. This will carry a penalty of up to 10 years.
  • Examples of a property include businesses, private homes, police vehicles and private vehicles.
  • Previously ram raid was captured as part of a series of offences.
  • This new offence is specific to the conduct making it more straight forward to prove before a court.

• It is now an offence to post and boast about a certain crime or criminal activities on social media platforms, including sharing criminal activity online, to gain notoriety. This will see a penalty of up to 2 years.
  • The penalty applies to any person who promotes a crime or criminal activity on social media platforms, including sharing criminal activity online, to gain notoriety.

There are exceptions when posting to complain, warn, notify or raise public awareness of the conduct, such as:

• media coverage
• police media
• education programs
• community channels.

The new public drinking offence gives police more powers to fine, charge and arrest for nuisance drinking in prohibited public places.

The offence is punishable by a maximum fine of $925. Police can also continue to tip out alcohol and issue a 7-day banned drinker order.

Previously police could only confiscate or tip out alcohol and issue a 7-day banned drinking order in prohibited public places.

Prohibited public places include any public place in:

• Alice Springs
• Darwin
• Katherine
• Nhulunbuy
• Palmerston
• Tennant Creek
• any other public place within 2 km of a licensed premises
• any other place prescribed by regulation or by a local council.

High risk areas and local council exemptions

The existing Territory high risk areas will remain, which give police other powers to manage problem drinking such as banning people from that area. The new public drinking offence also applies in these areas.

Read more about high risk areas on the NT Government website.

The existing local council exemptions will also remain, which allow people to consume alcohol at specific times at:

• East Point
• Nightcliff foreshore
• Mindil Beach markets
• Alice Springs Telegraph Station picnic area.

The new public drinking offence will not apply in these areas during the specific exclusion times, however existing laws to manage antisocial behaviour will remain in place.

The age of criminal responsibility has been lowered from 12 to 10 years of age to ensure that younger offenders get the help they need.

This change is about early intervention, to get children into meaningful programs to turn their life around and stop young people falling through the cracks.

The police now have more authority to deal with young people aged 10-17 caught offending. Previously they could only take youth offenders aged 10-12 to a place of safety (such as home or to care services).

The change means the term youths applies to 10 to 17 year olds.