Complaint from detained person
54 Complaint from detained person
S. 54 inserted by No. 13/2012 s. 9 (as amended by No. 82/2012 s. 148(3)), amended by No. 85/2012 s. 91.
This section applies if a detained person wishes to—
provide information or make a complaint to the IBAC under this Act; or
S. 54(1)(b) amended by No. 2/2019 s. 57(Sch. 1 Pt A item 4).
make a disclosure to the IBAC under Part 2 of the Public Interest Disclosures Act 2012.
The detained person may inform the person in charge that he or she wishes to communicate with the IBAC.
The detained person is not required to inform the person in charge of the content or purpose of that communication.
On being informed by the detained person of his or her wish to communicate with the IBAC, the person in charge must—
take all reasonable steps to facilitate that communication; and
subject to subsection (6), immediately forward, unopened, to the IBAC any letter addressed to the IBAC by the detained person.
Subject to subsection (6), if a letter from the IBAC is addressed to the detained person, the person in charge must ensure that it is immediately forwarded, unopened, to the detained person.
If a letter referred to in subsection (4)(b) or (5) is suspected by the person in charge to contain drugs, weapons or other contraband, the letter may be opened by the person in charge, or his or her delegate, in the presence of—
in the case of a letter addressed to the IBAC, the person who wrote the letter and an IBAC Officer; or
in the case of a letter from the IBAC to the detained person, the person to whom the letter is addressed and an IBAC Officer.
Subject to subsection (6), a person, including a person in charge, must not prevent or hinder the forwarding, unopened, of a letter—
addressed to the IBAC from a detained person; or
to a detained person from the IBAC.
Penalty: 120 penalty units or imprisonment for 12 months or both.
Note to s. 54(7) inserted by No. 30/2016 s. 46(4).
Note
Section 185 applies to an offence against this subsection.
This Act’s bill:Explanatory memorandumSecond reading speech
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