Title: Right of Assembly Bill 2008
Author: Office of Parliamentary Counsel
Category: parliamentary.copy
Document comments: lc20

Legislative Council—No 20
As introduced and read a first time, 15 October 2008

Right of Assembly Bill 2008

Right of Assembly Bill 2008
Part 1—Preliminary

Right of Assembly Bill 2008
Preliminary—Part 1

Right of Assembly Bill 2008
Part 2—General right of assembly

Right of Assembly Bill 2008
General right of assembly—Part 2

Right of Assembly Bill 2008
Part 3—Exemption from certain laws

Right of Assembly Bill 2008
Exemption from certain laws—Part 3

Right of Assembly Bill 2008
Part 4—Miscellaneous

Right of Assembly Bill 2008
Miscellaneous—Part 4

South Australia
Right of Assembly Bill 2008
A Bill For
An Act to provide rights in relation to assemblies held for the purposes of genuine advocacy, protest, dissent or industrial action.

Contents
Part 1—Preliminary
1	Short title
2	Commencement
3	Interpretation
Part 2—General right of assembly
4	General right of assembly
Part 3—Exemption from certain laws
5	Exemptions 
6	Exemption does not operate in favour of person who contravenes a condition
Part 4—Miscellaneous
7	Appeal to District Court
8	Report on operation of Act
9	Service
10	Regulations

The Parliament of South Australia enacts as follows:
Part 1—Preliminary
1—Short title
This Act may be cited as the Right of Assembly Act 2008.
2—Commencement
This Act will come into operation 1 month after the day on which this Act is assented to by the Governor.
3—Interpretation
In this Act—
exemption means an exemption granted under section 5;
public place means—
	(a)	a place (not being a place on private land) to which the public has free access; and
	(b)	a public road;
public road has the same meaning as in the Local Government Act 1999.

Part 2—General right of assembly
4—General right of assembly
	(1)	Subject to this Act, but despite any other Act or law, every person has an inalienable right to assemble with other persons in a public place for the purpose of genuine advocacy, protest, dissent or industrial action.
	(2)	This section does not apply in the following circumstances:
	(a)	if the person, or a substantial part of the assembly, engages in unlawful conduct during the course of the assembly;
	(b)	if the person is subject to a court order under any Act or law and such an assembly would amount to a contravention of the terms of that order.
	(3)	For the purposes of this section, a reference to unlawful conduct includes a reference to conduct consisting of a contravention, or a failure to comply with, a condition of an exemption.
	(4)	For the purposes of the Serious and Organised Crime (Control) Act 2008, the mere attendance at an assembly of a kind contemplated by this section does not amount to an association or communication with another person present at the assembly.

Part 3—Exemption from certain laws
5—Exemptions 
	(1)	Subject to this section, the Minister may, by notice in writing made on application by a person, exempt the person, or a group of persons, from a specified provision or provisions of a specified Act or law for the purposes of, or during the course of, genuine advocacy, protest, dissent or industrial action.
	(2)	The Minister—
	(a)	must determine an application under subsection (1) as a matter of urgency (and in any case must determine the application within 5 business days after the application is received); and
	(b)	may only refuse to grant an exemption, or an exemption from a particular provision of an Act or law, if the Minister believes on reasonable grounds that granting the exemption would present an unreasonable risk to public safety; and
	(c)	if the Minister refuses to grant an exemption—
	(i)	the Minister must notify the applicant in writing of the determination (and the notice must set out the grounds on which the Minister believed that the granting of the exemption would present an unreasonable risk to public safety); and
	(ii)	must prepare a report setting out the grounds on which the Minister believed that the granting of the exemption would present an unreasonable risk to public safety, and must cause the report to be laid before both Houses of Parliament within 6 sitting days of the date on which the notice under subparagraph (i) was given to the applicant.
	(3)	An application under subsection (1) must be made in a manner and form determined by the Minister.
	(4)	The applicant must, at the request of the Minister, provide such further information as may be reasonably required to determine the application.
	(5)	The Minister must not charge a fee for an application under subsection (1).
	(6)	An exemption is subject to the conditions (if any) specified in the notice under subsection (1).
	(7)	The Minister may, by further notice in writing, vary or revoke an exemption for any reason the Minister thinks fit.
	(8)	To avoid doubt, a reference in this section to an Act or law includes a reference to a by‑law made under any Act.
6—Exemption does not operate in favour of person who contravenes a condition
If a person contravenes or fails to comply with a condition of an exemption, the exemption does not, while the contravention or non‑compliance continues, operate in that person's favour.

Part 4—Miscellaneous
7—Appeal to District Court
	(1)	An applicant for an exemption under Part 3 may, if the Minister—
	(a)	determines to refuse to grant the application; or
	(b)	grants the application but imposes a condition on the exemption,
appeal to the Administrative and Disciplinary Division of the District Court against the determination or the imposition of the condition.
	(2)	An appeal under this section must be instituted—
	(a)	in the case of an appeal against a determination to refuse to grant an application—within 28 days of the applicant being notified in accordance with section 5(2)(c)(i) of the determination; or
	(b)	in the case of an appeal against an imposition of a condition on an exemption—within 28 days of the date on which the application was granted.
8—Report on operation of Act
	(1)	The Minister must, on or before 30 September in each year, prepare a report on the operation of this Act during the previous financial year.
	(2)	The report must include—
	(a)	the number of applications under Part 3 received by the Minister; and
	(b)	details of each such application that was granted (including details of any condition imposed on the exemption by the Minister); and
	(c)	details of each such application that was refused by the Minister, and details of the grounds on which the Minister believed that the granting of the exemption would present an unreasonable risk to public safety; and
	(d)	a report from the Commissioner of Police providing the information required by the regulations in relation to the conduct of genuine advocacy, protest, dissent or industrial action in accordance with this Act.
	(3)	The Minister must, within 12 sitting days after the report is completed, cause a copy of the report to be laid before both Houses of Parliament.
9—Service
A notice required or authorised to be given to a person for the purposes of this Act may—
	(a)	be given to the person personally; or
	(b)	be posted in an envelope addressed to the person at the person's last known residential, business or (in the case of a corporation) registered address; or
	(c)	be left for the person at the person's last known residential, business or (in the case of a corporation) registered address with someone apparently over the age of 16 years; or
	(d)	be transmitted by fax or email to a fax number or email address provided by the person (in which case the notice or document will be taken to have been given or served at the time of transmission).
10—Regulations
The Governor may make such regulations as are contemplated by, or necessary or expedient for the purposes of, this Act.

LC GP 049-B: the Hon Sandra Kanck MLC