These legislative reforms came as SAPOL announced an additional 70 police officers will return to the frontline, and the formation of a new youth crime taskforce, as a result of significant State Government funding.

Almost $82 million dollars is being invested over four years to hire an extra 189 Police Security Officers to replace sworn police in support roles such as custody management, to get these sworn officers back to frontline duties.

Legislation introduced by the Government this week included:

• The toughest knife laws in the nation, including expanding police powers to conduct wanding searches and the creation of two new offences for supplying knives to minors.
• Outlawing ‘posting and boasting’ for those who seek to promote or glorify criminal conduct on social media.
• Changes to the term ‘not guilty due to mental incompetence’ to ‘conduct proved, but not criminally responsible’ - a move to better reflect the experiences of victims.
• Expanding powers to confiscate the proceeds of crimes from drug dealers and direct them to programs assisting victims and drug and alcohol rehabilitation.
• Making it easier for prosecutors to convict drug traffickers, importers and couriers.

Legislation also passed Parliament this week to make it easier to prosecute stalking and harassment. The measures capture a broader range of harmful stalking activities, and ensure new and emerging forms of technology like using devices to track a person’s movements or to monitor their communications are also covered.

The State Government this week also announced a suite of law reforms to crackdown on the theft of copper and other scrap metal, with a raft of proposed changes going out to public consultation on Tuesday.

The stand-alone legislative proposals will make it harder for criminals to sell stolen scrap metal, by regulating the industry and allowing police to close premises that don’t comply.