South Australia
Criminal Law (Undercover Operations) Act 1995
An Act to authorise the use of undercover operations for the purposes of criminal investigation; and for other purposes.

Contents
1	Short title
2	Interpretation
3	Approval of undercover operations
4	Legal immunity of persons taking part in approved undercover operations
5	Report on approvals
6	Regulations
Legislative history

The Parliament of South Australia enacts as follows:
1—Short title
This Act may be cited as the Criminal Law (Undercover Operations) Act 1995.
2—Interpretation
In this Act—
approved undercover operations means—
	(a)	undercover operations approved under this Act; or
	(b)	undercover operations approved by a law enforcement authority before the commencement of this Act that are of a type that could have been reasonably approved under this Act if this Act had been in force when the operations commenced;
authorised participant in approved undercover operations means—
	(a)	a person authorised under the terms of the approval to take part in the operations; or
	(b)	in the case of operations that began before the commencement of this Act—a person authorised by a law enforcement authority to take part in the operations;
senior police officer means a member of the police force of or above the rank of Superintendent;
serious criminal behaviour means behaviour involving the commission of—
	(a)	an indictable offence; or
	(b)	an offence against the Controlled Substances Act 1984; or
	(c)	an offence against section 52, 53, 72 or 74 of the Fisheries Management Act 2007; or
	(d)	an offence against section 63 or 75 of the Lottery and Gaming Act 1936; or
	(e)	an offence against section 47(1), (2) or (4), 48(1), 48A(1), 51(1) or 60(1) of the National Parks and Wildlife Act 1972;
undercover operations means operations (which may include conduct that is apart from this Act illegal) of which the intended purpose is to provide persons engaging or about to engage in serious criminal behaviour an opportunity to—
	(a)	manifest that behaviour; or
	(b)	provide other evidence of that behaviour.
3—Approval of undercover operations
	(1)	A senior police officer may approve undercover operations for the purpose of gathering evidence of serious criminal behaviour.
	(2)	An approval may not be given unless the officer—
	(a)	suspects, on reasonable grounds, that persons (whose identity may—but need not—be known to the officer) are engaging or about to engage in serious criminal behaviour of the kind to which the proposed undercover operations relate; and
	(b)	is satisfied on reasonable grounds that the ambit of the proposed undercover operations is not more extensive than could reasonably be justified in view of the nature and extent of the suspected serious criminal behaviour; and
	(c)	is satisfied on reasonable grounds that the means are proportionate to the end ie that the proposed undercover operations are justified by the social harm of the serious criminal behaviour against which they are directed; and
	(d)	is satisfied on reasonable grounds that the undercover operations are properly designed to provide persons engaging or about to engage in serious criminal behaviour an opportunity—
	(i)	to manifest that behaviour; or
	(ii)	to provide other evidence of that behaviour,
without undue risk that persons without a predisposition to serious criminal behaviour will be encouraged into serious criminal behaviour that they would otherwise have avoided.
	(3)	Before giving approval the officer must consider whether approval for similar operations has previously been sought, and, if sought and refused, the reasons for that refusal.
	(4)	The approval must—
	(a)	be in writing; and
	(b)	be signed by the officer giving it; and
	(c)	specify the persons who are authorised to participate in the operations; and
	(d)	state the nature of the conduct in which the participants are authorised to engage; and
	(e)	specify the date and time the senior police officer signs the approval and the time from which it takes effect (which may be contemporaneous with or later than the time of signing but cannot be earlier); and
	(f)	state a period (not exceeding 3 months) for which the approval is given.
	(5)	A senior police officer may renew an approval from time to time for a further period not exceeding 3 months.
	(6)	A senior police officer must, within 14 days after giving or renewing an approval, cause a copy of the instrument of approval or renewal to be given to the Attorney‑General.
4—Legal immunity of persons taking part in approved undercover operations
	(1)	Despite any other law, an authorised participant in approved undercover operations incurs no criminal liability by taking part in undercover operations in accordance with the terms of the approval.
	(2)	This section operates both prospectively and retrospectively.
5—Report on approvals
The Attorney-General must, on or before 30 September in each year, cause a copy of a report to be laid before both Houses of Parliament specifying—
	(a)	the classes of offence for which approvals were given or renewed under this Act during the period of 12 months ending on the preceding 30 June; and
	(b)	the number of approvals given or renewed during that period for offences of each class.
6—Regulations
The Governor may make regulations for the purposes of this Act.

Legislative history
Notes
	•	Please note—References in the legislation to other legislation or instruments or to titles of bodies or offices are not automatically updated as part of the program for the revision and publication of legislation and therefore may be obsolete.
	•	Earlier versions of this Act (historical versions) are listed at the end of the legislative history.
	•	For further information relating to the Act and subordinate legislation made under the Act see the Index of South Australian Statutes or www.legislation.sa.gov.au.
Repeal of Act
The Criminal Law (Undercover Operations) Act 1995 was repealed by Sch 1 cl 2 of the Criminal Investigation (Covert Operations) Act 2009 on 1.7.2009.
Principal Act and amendments
Year	No	Title	Assent	Commencement	
1995	46	Criminal Law (Undercover Operations) Act 1995	15.6.1995	15.6.1995	
2000	95	Authorised Betting Operations Act 2000	21.12.2000	Sch 2 (cl 1)—14.12.2001 (Gazette 6.12.2001 p5266)	
2002	26	Criminal Law Consolidation (Offences of Dishonesty) Amendment Act 2002	31.10.2002	Sch 3 (cl 3)—5.7.2003 (Gazette 15.5.2003 p1979)	
2007	4	Fisheries Management Act 2007	8.3.2007	Sch 2 (cl 4)—1.12.2007 (Gazette 15.11.2007 p4241)	
Provisions amended
Provision	How varied	Commencement	
s 2			
serious criminal behaviour	amended by 95/2000 Sch 2 cl 1(a) 	14.12.2001	
	(f) deleted by 95/2000 Sch 2 cl 1(b)	14.12.2001	
	(g) deleted by 26/2002 s 19(2) (Sch 3 cl 3)	5.7.2003	
	amended by 4/2007 Sch 2 cl 4	1.12.2007	
Historical versions
Reprint No 1—14.12.2001		
Reprint No 2—5.7.2003