Register Will Track Freed Pedophiles
By Linda Doherty
Originally published in the Sydney Morning Herald, May 31, 2000
Pedophiles, child murderers and pornographers will be tracked by police on their release from jail and forced to list their address, employment and car registration number on a central register.
The NSW Government's Statewide Child Protection Offender Register will operate from July 1 next year under legislation announced yesterday by the Police Minister, Mr Whelan. It includes mandatory registration of all people convicted of offences against children, such as sex crimes, murder, indecency, pornography, prostitution or kidnapping.
The register was recommended by the Wood Royal Commission in 1997 but stops short of Mr Whelan's commitment last June to give police the power to "notify the community" of a pedophile's address, which is similar to the controversial Megan's Law in the United States.
Yesterday, Mr Whelan said he had "now settled" on a model used in Britain and had ruled out Megan's Law, which had only a 10 per cent compliance rate compared with 97 per cent in the British scheme.
"If we want to protect our children, police must know the whereabouts of every convicted child molester," Mr Whelan said.
"We do not want a model that encourages vigilantes and fanatics, yet fails to protect children … Megan's Law has not worked and will not be adopted."
The Opposition Leader, Mrs Chikarovski, said the register did not go far enough and should include police discretion to inform schools, preschools and childcare centres when a pedophile was released from jail and moved into a local area.
The register will also cover offenders awaiting appeal or on probation. Sex offenders and child killers will be listed on the register for 10 years, while all other registrable offences will be listed for seven years. The names of children who commit serious crimes against children could also be kept on the register.
Within 28 days of an offence being proven or offenders being released from jail, they will have to notify police of their name, address, vehicle registration and place of employment. Subsequent notifications must be made within 14 days if any of these factors changes.
Breaches of the registration requirements could result in a two-year jail term or $11,000 fine.
A spokesman for Mr Whelan said only approved agencies such as the departments of education, community services, health, sport and recreation and juvenile justice, would be able to check with police if a prospective employee was listed on the register. Police will then answer "yes" or "no", but no other information will be released.
But the president of the NSW Council of Civil Liberties, Mr Kevin O'Rourke, said he would be concerned if all police could access the information. "The breadth of the offences are also far more than pedophilia, and I am concerned about people who might get caught up in the register," he said.
Mr Whelan's spokesman said local area commanders would have access but how they delegated that power to other police was being worked out by an implementation committee.
Mr Whelan's office said rehabilitation was one reason why the Government had steered clear of a Megan's Law-style register.
