O'Dea v Commissioner of Police

[2016] SASCFC 58

South Australia Full Court

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Interrogate

Catchwords

1. Criminal Law
2. › Sexual offences
3. › Child sex offender registration
4. › Serious registrable offender
5. › Whether offender classified by operation of amended statute without need for declaration
6. › Child Sex Offenders Registration Act 2006 (SA), ss 4(1), 6(1), 10A, 10B
1. Statutes
2. › Interpretation
3. › Retrospective operation
4. › Presumption against retrospectivity
5. › Whether amendments imposing prospective liability by reference to past events are retrospective
6. › Whether express statutory language rebutted presumption
1. Statutes
2. › Interpretation
3. › Statutory definitions
4. › Operation of definitions through substantive provisions
5. › Whether status acquired by operation of definition without need for administrative declaration
1. Criminal Law
2. › Sentencing
3. › Separate occasions
4. › Whether offences charged on same information committed on separate occasions
5. › Meaning of 'separate occasions'

Quick Take

A person may acquire the status of 'serious registrable offender' under the Child Sex Offenders Registration Act 2006 (SA) by operation of the statutory definitions upon commencement of the 2013 amendments, without any declaration by the Commissioner of Police. A police notice informing a registrable offender of their obligations and status is not an appealable 'decision' under s 42B of the District Court Act 1991 (SA) because it merely informs of the operation of the law and does not, of itself, affect rights. The 2013 amendments imposing new obligations on offenders by reference to past convictions are prospective, not retrospective, in operation.