Victorian police could get sweeping powers to search children without a parent and people with intellectual disabilities without an independent adult present in designated areas under a state government bill cracking down on protests.
The justice legislation amendment (police and other matters) bill is expected to be debated in the upper house on Tuesday, after being introduced to parliament last month. At the time, the government focused on measures targeting protesters, including a ban on attachment devices and fines of more than $1,000 for those who fail to comply with a police direction to remove a mask.
But the bill also proposes broader changes to designated areas, an issue that came into focus last week when Victoria police declared the entire Melbourne CBD and surrounds one for six months, allowing officers to randomly stop and search anyone, via an electronic wand or a pat-down.
If passed, the legislation would allow police to expand designated areas to “major transit points” such as train stations and bus stops, and permit search notices to be issued electronically. It would also change how under 18s and those with intellectual impairments are searched in these areas.
Currently, if a child or intellectually impaired person triggers a wand, police must take them to a station to conduct a more comprehensive search if a parent, guardian or independent person is not available – a process that police minister Anthony Carbines described in parliament as “more time in police custody than may be necessary” and “a drain on police resources”.
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Under the bill, an outer body search could be carried out on the spot if police reasonably believe urgent circumstances require it – such as preventing evidence from being destroyed or protecting someone’s safety.
Carbines said the outer search would still be conducted “in the presence of another person (who may or may not be a police officer) other than the officer conducting the search”.
The bill’s statement of compatibility with human rights, tabled in parliament, acknowledges that this “may be partially incompatible with human rights”.
Monique Hurley, the associate legal director at the Human Rights Law Centre, said the proposed change was “incredibly concerning”. She said they reflects the government’s approach of “robbing people of their rights and endlessly expanding police powers”.
“Giving police increased powers to lay their hands on children and intellectually disabled people to search them demonstrates a dangerous disregard for human rights,” Hurley said.
“The record is clear that expanding police powers in this way will result in the targeting of the most marginalised members of our community.”
Nerita Waight, the chief executive of the Victorian Aboriginal Legal Service, said removing the presence of an independent person “may reduce the process for police, but the result will be traumatising for children”.
“There is an inherent power balance between children and police, so having an independent person in the room is a means to improving safety and strengthens accountability,” Waight said.
Meanwhile, Anastasia Radievska, a protest rights campaigner with the Australian Democracy Network, has also raised concerns the laws could allow “preemptive policing” of protest.
Under the bill, police can apply to a magistrate for a warrant to raid people’s homes or vehicles up to 72 hours prior to a protest if they suspect attachment devices – such as ropes and chains – will be used.
“Raiding people’s homes to search for common personal devices also used in protests, like bike locks, is clearly an overreach of police powers and an unnecessary use of taxpayer resources,” Radievska said.
The Greens justice spokesperson, Katherine Copsey, has confirmed the party will vote against the bill, meaning the government will have to rely on either the Coalition or the remaining crossbenchers.
“Labor is not just criminalising peaceful protest they are also handing over more discretionary powers for police to search children,” Copsey said. “It is shameful.”
