WA bikie law change leaves police powerless to stop convicted child sex offenders from associating
A law that was aimed at stopping bikies from associating has had unintended consequences. (AAP: Dean Lewins)
In short:
A change in Western Australian laws aimed at disrupting outlaw bikie gangs has also hampered police powers aimed at stopping convicted paedophiles from associating with each other.
WA Police told the state’s ombudsman raising the threshold for when officers can act had “inherent limitations”.
What's next?
The state government revealed it was reviewing the laws after the opposition introduced a bill to address the issue.
A law aimed at cracking down on bikie gangs is under review after it became clear it had also left police powerless to stop hundreds of convicted child sex offenders from associating with each other.
In 2021, the Western Australian government introduced what it described as "the toughest anti-consorting regime in the country" which was mainly aimed at disrupting outlaw motorcycle gangs by prohibiting them for communicating.
But another element of that law has made it more difficult for police to stop convicted child sex offenders communicating with each other by limiting when officers could take action against them.
"The impact is that these child sex offenders are able to consort freely, they're able to associate amongst one another," Nick Goiran, the shadow attorney general, said.
Justice Department review
To date, no orders have been issued under the new law.
For comparison, 1,069 sex offenders were issued warnings under the old law.
WA police say the bikie laws have "inherent limitations" when applied to child sex offenders (ABC News: Kenith Png)
While the government said it believed other laws provided "more effective protections to children", a spokesperson told the ABC the Department of Justice was now conducting a review of the anti-consorting laws.
This week Mr Goiran introduced a bill to the state parliament that, if approved, would lower the threshold for police to act under the law.
WA Shadow Attorney General Nick Goiran wants to change the law. (ABC News: Keane Bourke)
Under the old system, police could warn a child sex offender that another person was also an offender, and that continuing to associate with that offender could lead to them being fined or imprisoned.
The new laws make it more difficult for police to deliver a similar notice. They require the two child sex offenders to already be interacting, or likely to interact.
It also then requires a police officer to deem it is necessary to "disrupt or restrict the capacity" of these offenders to engage in an serious offence.
The law has made it harder for WA Police to stop paedophiles associating. (ABC News: Keane Bourke)
In a report by the WA Ombudsman, police warned the new law placed "inherent limitations" on its officers when dealing with child sex offenders.
"By their nature these offenders do not typically fall within the scope of the Act's intended application," the force told the Ombudsman.
"This raises potential concerns that … this cohort may no longer be subject to formal restrictions preventing them from consorting with one another."
Close monitoring
A state government spokesperson said convicted child sex offenders were closely monitored by WA Police.
They said another raft of laws also allowed for a range of strict bail conditions to be imposed.
"However, we take the comments made by the WA Ombudsman seriously and the Department of Justice is reviewing the relevant anti-consorting law," the spokesperson said.
Mr Goiran said the opposition had tried to warn the government about these problems, but had been overruled because Labor had total control of both houses of parliament.
"What we need is some humility from the Cook Labor government, some acknowledgement that this is a problem," he said.
"And ideally support for the opposition's bill, or alternatively, an expedited passage of their own legislation."