news, federal-politics

The Morrison government’s proposal for a national register that would make public the names, faces and postcodes of paedophiles and other sex offenders has met scepticism from the states, with the NSW government expressing "preliminary concerns". Some child protection advocates and experts have also criticised the plan as ineffective. Outspoken child protection campaigner Hetty Johnston from the organisation Bravehearts blasted the proposal from Home Affairs Minister Peter Dutton as “a political stunt” and said it would do little to keep children safer. But Senator Derryn Hinch, a long-time campaigner for tougher laws on child sex offenders including a public register, said he could “now … die happy”. Mr Dutton announced on Wednesday he had written to the states - who have responsibility for laws on sex offenders registers - just before Christmas proposing the national scheme. “We're saying that if you live in your postcode, you should know who in your postcode has a history of committing sexual offences against a child … It'll be a name, a photograph, it'll be the history, the charge that the person's been convicted of,” Mr Dutton said. Victoria and Queensland said they were happy to discuss the idea but stressed they would consult their police forces on the merits. NSW Police Minister Troy Grant said while people "absolutely deserve to feel safe and secure", the state already had the toughest laws in the country tackling child sex offences. "While the NSW government will continue to review the proposal, we do have preliminary concerns with its operation and associated risks," Mr Grant said. A NSW parliamentary committee, chaired by Mr Grant, considered and rejected a similar proposal in 2014. It is understood that the NSW government has concerns about overseas instances where innocent members of the community have been targeted if they have a similar name to an offender. There are also concerns about vigilantism, that offenders would abscond to avoid exposure and make it harder for police to keep track of them, and the risk of identifying victims, given most child sex offences are perpetrated by someone known to the victim. States already have internal registers that police and other authorities can use to keep track of convicted offenders. A Victorian government spokesman said the government would be happy to discuss the issue but added: “We will be guided by the experts – including Victoria Police – on what more is needed to keep Victorians safe.” Queensland Police Minister Mark Ryan said the government was consulting the state’s police force but added: “This has been looked at previously and concerns have been raised by a number of child safety advocates that offenders will be driven underground.” Braveheart’s Ms Johnston said 30 per cent of offenders were parents - mostly fathers and stepfathers - and only about 10 per cent were ever known to authorities. “This is a political stunt … They come up with this stuff at election time that is just a chest-beating exercise and it makes me cranky,” she said. “It just doesn’t work. Any kind of research will tell you it just doesn’t work. That we’re even contemplating it in this country just makes me shake my head.” Mr Dutton admitted it was not a silver bullet. A review of studies on public registers worldwide by the Australian Institute of Criminology, published last May, found public registers “may have a small, general deterrent effect on first-time offenders, they do not reduce recidivism”. Shadow attorney-general Mark Dreyfus said Labor would "look at any constructive proposal ... and listen to the experts". But he said Mr Dutton would need to show how the proposal made children safer and didn’t make it harder for police to do their job. He added it would be “good to know what has changed” since former prime minister Tony Abbott rejected the idea as ineffective in 2014.

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