Master class on legislative issues
Co-presenters:
Dr David Plater - Attorney-General’s Department
Terese Henning - Director of the Tasmanian Law Reform Institute
Chief Judge Muecke - District Court of South Australia
Issues raised in session
Response in context of Disability Justice Plan
The importance of proper training for all parties
Training for all parties within the criminal justice
within the criminal justice system to support the new
system to support the new Act is being consulted
Act.
upon with relevant agencies.
The benefit of Ground Rules hearings.
The benefit and application of Ground Rules hearings
has been raised in judicial forums and is an
operational issue for the Court Administration
Authority.
Wrong questioning in court of vulnerable witnesses
The Plan includes funding for the training of the
in South Australia is due to a lack of awareness
judiciary and other staff in the criminal justice
usually as opposed to bullying and vexatious
system, and this will include content on questioning
questioning.
and communication with vulnerable witnesses.
A definition of complex communication needs in the
A definition of complex communication needs will be
Act would help although it is a difficult area.
included in the Evidence Act 1929, and further
consultation will be undertaken with key
stakeholders.
It is important that any model of communication
The Communication Partner Service is a state-wide
partners extends to remote and regional areas,
model and is intended to extend to the APY-Lands,
including the APY lands.
noting the logistical challenges of providing services
in regional and remote areas. These challenges will
be worked through with the service provider and
partner agencies.
Requirement for SAPOL to notify communication
This will be addressed in the Regulations. Inclusion in
partner scheme must be clear and legal as always
the Police Standing Orders is an operational issue for
intended once the scheme is available for that area.
South Australia Police.
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Communication Partner Service Session
Presenter:
Contributors:
Fiona Snodgrass - Attorney-General’s Department
Emily Harper - UniSA
Collette Nunke - South Australia Police
Steven Johnson - Attorney-General’s Department
Issues raised in session
Response in context of Disability Justice Plan
‘What will be the indicators of success of the
Following a competitive tender process, Uniting
program in four years’ time?’
Communities has recently been selected to establish

Evidence that peoples’ voices have been
the Communication Partner Service. Issues raised at
heard.
the symposium will be taken into consideration in
That disability & child sex abuse workers have
the design and implementation of the service.

a sense of relief that there are personnel
available to ensure questioning is appropriate,
adding to the possibility that cases may
proceed beyond interview.

Better understanding and perception of
disability. Removal of unhelpful assumptions.

Matching process is person centred and people
get matched appropriately.

Increased perception of witness reliability.

Right skills at the right time.

Universal access to the service.

Embed in university law courses.
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Community Session – Cognitive Impairment and the Law
Co-presenters:
Melanie Robinson - Legal Services Commission
Edward Weaver - Brain Injury South Australia
Issues raised in session
Response in context of Disability Justice Plan
Provide more opportunities for people with cognitive
Further consultation will be undertaken on the
impairment to identify their disability to police if they
potential use of tools to alert people in the justice
wish to do so. This might be through making a set of
system that the person they are interacting with has
mandatory questions for police to ask at the start of
a disability, as per priority action 3.10 in the Plan.
the interview.
The issue of police identifying people with disability
Individuals should be able to maintain choice about
will be considered further in the implementation of
identification of their disability and divulging this
the Communication Partner Service.
information to authorities.
If police have a reasonable suspicion or knowledge
that a person has cognitive impairment they should
not be interviewed until they have had legal advice
and an advocate/family member/friend with them.
Importance of training for police and people within
The specialist training for investigative interviewers
the justice system in disability awareness, and in
has specific content on interviewing adults with
particular, a process for engaging with and making
disability, and further research is being undertaken in
enquiries about cognitive impairment and
this area.
intellectual disability. This training should be person
South Australia Police is giving consideration to the
centred. It should be compulsory for all workers.
expansion of front-line training in disability
Training for police should include an appropriate
awareness, and this would cover interactions with
focus on potential difficulties with emotional
people with cognitive impairment and intellectual
regulation for people with an acquired brain injury,
disability.
with an emphasis on defusing and de-escalating
situations, especially at the point of initial contact
with police.
More training and awareness is required around the
A communications strategy was implemented upon
introduction of the new sexual offences under the
the commencement of the Act in March 2015.
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Criminal Law Consolidation (Sexual Offences-
The Legal Services Commission has been funded
Cognitive Impairment) Act 2014.
through the Disability Justice Plan to run community
education programs. The Law 4 All program includes
information about initiatives in the Disability Justice
Plan and has covered topics such as consent, sex and
the law.
Law 4 All sessions can be arranged for organisations
or groups by contacting the Legal Education Officer,
ph (08) 8111 5555 or email [email protected]
The new communication partner service needs to be
The Communication Partner Service is a state-wide
consistent across all regions including rural and
model and is intended to extend to the APY-Lands,
remote areas.
noting the logistical challenges of providing services
in regional and remote areas. These challenges will
be worked through with the service provider and
partner agencies.
More resourcing is required for security clearances
This matter has been referred to the Department for
and screening. Services very much support the
Communities and Social Inclusion for consideration.
requirement for staff to have this clearance yet it
needs to be resourced properly to expedite where
possible.
Courts need to be accessible and disability friendly.
Action Priority 1.6 of the Plan is concerned with
ensuring that any infrastructure developments across
the justice system are accessible and disability
friendly.
Take into account the importance of the presence of
As per Action Priority 2.3, the involvement of support
relatives supporting a person with cognitive
persons in interviews is allowed for under the
impairment in investigative interviews.
Vulnerable Witnesses Act 2015.
There is need for a readily available list of lawyers
A specialist service like the NSW Intellectual Disability
with experience representing people with intellectual
Rights Service Inc. does not exist in SA. However, this
disability.
feedback will be raised in continuing professional
development of legal practitioners in both the
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community and private legal sector.
The role of justice rights advocate to stand beside
This issue is outside the scope of the Disability Justice
them to support the person through the justice
Plan.
process.
The issue of expiation notices and how this is being
As per Action Priority 3.4 in the Plan, the Fines
progressed through the Plan, including Action Priority
Enforcement and Recovery Unit in AGD has debt
3.4.
management processes for vulnerable clients.
Consultation is also being undertaken with issuing
authorities on the introduction of new legislation to
allow the issuing authority to withdraw the expiation
notice on the grounds of cognitive and/or intellectual
disability, to implement Action Priority 3.3.
South Australia Police is giving consideration to the
implementation of action 3.11 on the appropriate
use of cautioning and diversion for minor offences
for people with cognitive and/or intellectual
disability.
Consider the need for a register of disability – where
The issue of a register of people with disability has
a person gives their permission to be on the register,
been referred to South Australia Police for
accessible by hospital, police and emergency
consideration.
services. This needs to be considered carefully for
privacy protection.
Has the inquisitorial system been considered in these
The introduction of an inquisitorial system is beyond
cases like it was recommended for children at the
the scope of the Disability Justice Plan as it would be
1994 NAPCAN Conference for protecting children
a radical departure from the existing adversarial
from sexual abuse?
system.
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Specialist Interviewer Training Session
Co-presenters:
Dr Lydia Timms and Madeleine Bearman
Centre for Investigative Interviewing, Deakin University
Dr Stephen Brock - Attorney-General’s Department
Issues raised in session







Response in context of Disability Justice Plan
Continuity of personnel in the agency dealing
with a case.
The Centre for Investigative Interviewing at Deakin
Training should contain information about
specific disability groups.
training to interviewers working in South Australia
There is a need for ongoing and refresher
training.
Department for Education and Children’s Services
Ongoing access is needed for interviewers to
up-to-date research, articles and resources.
The specialist training for investigative interviewers
There is a need for case discussions, reviews
and face-to-face components of training that
deal with topics such as victims with trauma.
will have access to specialist resources and
Individual needs should be identified when
people present with issues that have been
previously undiagnosed, including cognitive
impairment.
Under the partnership with the Attorney-General’s
It is important for the interviewer to
understand what it’s like for the vulnerable
person and their lived experience of disability,
and to note that they share common
experiences that make them particularly
vulnerable.
research into interviewing people with disability. The
University has been selected to provide specialist
Police, Child Protection Services, Families SA, the
and Disability SA.
was launched on 5 February 2016, and interviewers
customised training to develop and maintain
interviewer competency.
Department, the Centre for Investigative
Interviewing will also undertake new world-leading
results of this research will further enhance
techniques for interviewing people with disability in
the existing training program.
The outcomes of this workshop are being
incorporated into the research project on
interviewing people with disability.
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