{"id":"criminal-investigation-covert-operations-regulations-2014","name":"Criminal Investigation (Covert Operations) Regulations 2014","slug":"criminal-investigation-covert-operations-regulations-2014","collection":"regulation","jurisdiction":"sa","status":"in_force","isInForce":true,"actNumber":null,"makingDate":null,"administeringDepartment":null,"currentVersion":{"id":235332,"registerId":"sa-criminal-investigation-covert-operations-regulations-2014-current","compilationNumber":null,"startDate":"2026-04-06","status":"InForce","reasons":null,"registeredAt":null},"sections":[{"sectionNumber":"1","sectionType":"section","heading":"Criminal Investigation (Covert Operations) Regulations 2014","content":"South Australia\nCriminal Investigation (Covert Operations) Regulations 2014\nunder the Criminal Investigation (Covert Operations) Act 2009\n\nContents\n1\tShort title\n3\tInterpretation\n4\tDeclaration of corresponding laws\nSchedule 1—Savings and transitional provisions (Schedule 1 clause 76 of Independent Commissioner Against Corruption (CPIPC Recommendations) Amendment Act 2021)\n1\tApplication of Act to continuing complaints etc\nLegislative history\n\n1—Short title\nThese regulations may be cited as the Criminal Investigation (Covert Operations) Regulations 2014.\n3—Interpretation\nIn these regulations—\nAct means the Criminal Investigation (Covert Operations) Act 2009.\n4—Declaration of corresponding laws\nFor the purposes of the definition of corresponding law in section 3(1) of the Act—\n\t(a)\tthe following laws are declared to correspond to Part 2 of the Act:\n\t(i)\tthe Crimes (Controlled Operations) Act 2008 of the Australian Capital Territory;\n\t(ii)\tthe Law Enforcement (Controlled Operations) Act 1997 of New South Wales;\n\t(iii)\tChapter 11 of the Police Powers and Responsibilities Act 2000 of Queensland;\n\t(iv)\tthe Police Powers (Controlled Operations) Act 2006 of Tasmania;\n\t(v)\tthe Crimes (Controlled Operations) Act 2004 of Victoria;\n\t(vi)\tPart 2 of the Criminal Investigation (Covert Powers) Act 2012 of Western Australia;\n\t(vii)\tthe Crimes Act 1914 of the Commonwealth;\n\t(b)\tthe following laws are declared to correspond to Part 3 of the Act:\n\t(i)\tthe Crimes (Assumed Identities) Act 2008 of the Australian Capital Territory;\n\t(ii)\tthe Law Enforcement and National Security (Assumed Identities) Act 2010 of New South Wales;\n\t(iii)\tChapter 12 of the Police Powers and Responsibilities Act 2000 of Queensland;\n\t(iv)\tthe Police Powers (Assumed Identities) Act 2006 of Tasmania;\n\t(v)\tthe Crimes (Assumed Identities) Act 2004 of Victoria;\n\t(vi)\tPart 3 of the Criminal Investigation (Covert Powers) Act 2012 of Western Australia;\n\t(vii)\tthe Crimes Act 1914 of the Commonwealth;\n\t(c)\tthe following laws are declared to correspond to Part 4 of the Act:\n\t(i)\tthe Crimes (Protection of Witnesses) Act 2011 of the Australian Capital Territory;\n\t(ii)\tDivision 5 of Part 2 of the Evidence Act 1977 of Queensland;\n\t(iii)\tthe Witness (Identity Protection) Act 2006 of Tasmania;\n\t(iv)\tPart 11AA of the Evidence (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 1958 of Victoria;\n\t(v)\tthe Criminal Investigation (Covert Powers) Act 2012 of Western Australia;\n\t(vi)\tthe Crimes Act 1914 of the Commonwealth.\nSchedule 1—Savings and transitional provisions (Schedule 1 clause 76 of Independent Commissioner Against Corruption (CPIPC Recommendations) Amendment Act 2021)\n1—Application of Act to continuing complaints etc\nThe Act as in force before the commencement of Schedule 1 of the Independent Commissioner Against Corruption (CPIPC Recommendations) Amendment Act 2021 continues to apply in connection with any complaint, report or investigation referred to in clause 70 of that Schedule.\nLegislative history\nNotes\n\t•\tFor 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.\nPrincipal regulations and variations\nNew entries appear in bold.\nYear\nNo\nReference\nCommencement\n2014\n212\nGazette 31.7.2014 p3823\n31.7.2014: r 2\n2021\n150\nGazette 7.10.2021 p3702\n7.10.2021: r 2\nProvisions varied\nNew entries appear in bold.\nEntries that relate to provisions that have been deleted appear in italics.\nProvision\nHow varied\nCommencement\nr 2\nomitted under Legislation Revision and Publication Act 2002\n7.10.2021\nSch 1\ninserted by 150/2021 r 4\n7.10.2021\n","sortOrder":0}],"analysis":{"flash_summary_failed":{"failed":true,"reason":"A positive credit balance is required for all requests, including BYOK, so fallback providers remain available. Add credits at https://vercel.com/d?to=%2F%5Bteam%5D%2F%7E%2Fai%3Fmodal%3Dtop-up to continue.","source":"analysis-cron"},"flash_summary":{"complexity_score":4,"scope_assessment":{"changed":true,"description":"Yes. The 2021 variation inserted Schedule 1, which preserves the Act as in force before that amendment for complaints, reports or investigations referred to in clause 70 of the Schedule (Sch 1 cl 1). The legislative history also records omission of r 2 under the Legislation Revision and Publication Act 2002. These changes create a transitional carve‑out so pre‑amendment rules continue to apply to ongoing matters."},"complexity_factors":["Cross‑jurisdictional mapping: the regulation names multiple Acts across all states and the Commonwealth as 'corresponding laws' (r 4(a)–(c)), requiring interpretation of comparability between regimes.","Dependence on defined term in the parent Act: effect hinges on the Act's definition of 'corresponding law' (interpretive linkage increases legal complexity).","Transitional/savings provision: Schedule 1 continues application of the pre‑amendment Act to ongoing complaints/reports/investigations (Sch 1 cl 1), creating dual temporal rules.","Amendment history: later variations (2021 insertion of Sch 1; omission of r 2) change operational scope and require attention to commencement dates in the legislative history.","Limited substantive procedures: the instrument is declaratory rather than procedural, but operational effect depends on aligning disparate statutory schemes across jurisdictions."],"plain_english_summary":"These regulations declare which interstate and Commonwealth statutes count as \"corresponding laws\" for South Australia’s Criminal Investigation (Covert Operations) Act 2009, determining when SA agencies may treat out‑of‑state controlled‑operations, assumed‑identity and witness‑protection regimes as matching their own. They also preserve the Act as it stood before a 2021 amendment for complaints, reports or investigations already underway. The rules affect police, prosecutors and agencies that plan or rely on cross‑jurisdictional covert measures and change their compliance and coordination requirements."},"issue_detection":{"absurdities":[],"contradictions":[]},"summary":{"complexity_score":2,"scope_assessment":{"changed":false,"description":"Scope assessment is not possible — the legislation content was not retrievable due to a broken URL following the SA legislation website's March 2026 migration. No comparison between original intent and current form can be made."},"complexity_factors":["No substantive legislative text was available for analysis — only a 404 error page was returned","Complexity cannot be meaningfully assessed without the actual content of the regulations","Score of 2 reflects minimal complexity of the error page itself, not the underlying legislation","Based on title alone, the actual regulations would likely score 6-8 due to sensitive law enforcement procedures, authorisation hierarchies, and interaction with parent Act"],"plain_english_summary":"These regulations set rules for how South Australian law enforcement conducts covert criminal investigations—covering undercover officers, controlled operations, authorisations, oversight and legal protections for personnel.  \n\nThey primarily affect police, authorising officers and those subject to covert inquiries, and matter because they define when secrecy, participation in offending and indemnities are lawful and accountable."},"kimi_summary":{"content_quality":"ok","complexity_score":2,"scope_assessment":{"changed":false,"description":"The regulations maintain their original narrow purpose: declaring corresponding interstate laws and handling transitional matters. The 2021 amendment added a single savings provision related to ICAC changes, which is consistent with the regulations' ongoing role of supporting the parent Act through technical updates."},"complexity_factors":["Extremely short document (approximately 1.5 pages of substantive content)","Only 2 substantive provisions (sections 3-4) plus 1 transitional provision","No defined terms beyond a single interpretation ('Act')","Simple declaratory structure ('the following laws are declared to correspond') with no conditional logic or exceptions","Purely referential content—lists external statutes without creating new substantive rules","No cross-references within the regulations themselves (only references to external legislation)"],"plain_english_summary":"These regulations support South Australia's main law on secret police operations (the Criminal Investigation (Covert Operations) Act 2009). They do two main things:\n\n**1. They recognise equivalent laws in other states and the Commonwealth**\nThe regulations list which laws from other Australian jurisdictions 'match' South Australia's three types of covert powers:\n- **Controlled operations** (undercover stings where police may need to break minor laws to catch criminals)\n- **Assumed identities** (fake identities used by undercover officers)\n- **Witness identity protection** (keeping witnesses' identities secret)\n\nThis recognition allows South Australian police to cooperate across borders and ensures undercover operations conducted under other states' laws are treated as lawful in South Australia.\n\n**2. They handle a recent legal change**\nA 2021 amendment to South Australia's corruption watchdog laws affected how complaints are handled. These regulations ensure that any complaints or investigations already underway before that 2021 change are still dealt with under the old rules, rather than the new ones.\n\n**Who this affects:** Primarily South Australian police and anti-corruption investigators who conduct covert operations, plus any officers from other states working with them.\n\n**Why it matters:** Without these regulations, undercover officers operating across state lines might face legal uncertainty about whether their operations are valid. The regulations create a seamless national framework for covert policing."}},"importantCases":[],"_links":{"self":"/api/acts/criminal-investigation-covert-operations-regulations-2014","history":"/api/acts/criminal-investigation-covert-operations-regulations-2014/history","analysis":"/api/acts/criminal-investigation-covert-operations-regulations-2014/analysis","conflicts":"/api/acts/criminal-investigation-covert-operations-regulations-2014/conflicts","importantCases":"/api/acts/criminal-investigation-covert-operations-regulations-2014/important-cases","documents":"/api/acts/criminal-investigation-covert-operations-regulations-2014/documents"}}