{"id":"BILL-TAS-police-offences-amendment-increased-penalties-for-damage-to-tasmanian-war-memorials-bill-2026-5-of-2026","name":"Police Offences Amendment (Increased Penalties for Damage to Tasmanian War Memorials) Bill 2026","slug":"police-offences-amendment-increased-penalties-for-damage-to-tasmanian-war-memorials-bill-2026","collection":"bill","jurisdiction":"tas","status":"in_force","isInForce":true,"actNumber":null,"makingDate":"2026-01-01","administeringDepartment":null,"currentVersion":{"id":446199,"registerId":"BILL-TAS-police-offences-amendment-increased-penalties-for-damage-to-tasmanian-war-memorials-bill-2026-5-of-2026:current","compilationNumber":null,"startDate":"2026-01-01","status":"in_force","reasons":null,"registeredAt":"2026-05-08T16:48:45.060Z"},"sections":[{"sectionNumber":"retrieval-0001","sectionType":"document_chunk","heading":"Document excerpt 1","content":"# Police Offences Amendment (Increased Penalties for Damage to Tasmanian War Memorials) Bill 2026\n\n[Bill 5]-VI\nTASMANIA\n__________\nPOLICE OFFENCES AMENDMENT (INCREASED\nPENALTIES FOR DAMAGE TO TASMANIAN\nWAR MEMORIALS) BILL 2026\n__________\nCONTENTS\nPART 1 – PRELIMINARY\n1. Short title\n2. Commencement\n3. Repeal of Act\nPART 2 – POLICE OFFENCES ACT 1935 AMENDED\n4. Principal Act\n5. Section 37AAA amended (Interference with war memorials)\nPART 3 – SENTENCING ACT 1997 AMENDED\n6. Principal Act\n7. Section 67 amended (Interpretation of Division)\n\n2\n\n[Bill 5] 3\nPOLICE OFFENCES AMENDMENT (INCREASED\nPENALTIES FOR DAMAGE TO TASMANIAN\nWAR MEMORIALS) BILL 2026\nThis Public Bill originated in the House of Assembly, and, having this day passed, is\nnow ready for presentation to the Legislative Council for its concurrence.\nLAURA ROSS, Clerk of the House\n18 March 2026\n(Brought in by Michael Darrel Joseph Ferguson, MP)\nA BILL FOR\nAn Act to amend the Police Offences Act 1935 and to\nconsequentially amend the Sentencing Act 1997\nBe it enacted by Her Excellency the Governor of Tasmania, by\nand with the advice and consent of the Legislative Council and\nHouse of Assembly, in Parliament assembled, as follows:\nPART 1 – PRELIMINARY\n1. Short title\nThis Act may be cited as the Police Offences\nAmendment (Increased Penalties for Damage to\nTasmanian War Memorials) Act 2026.\n2. Commencement\nThis Act commences on the day on which this\nAct receives the Royal Assent.\n\nPolice Offences Amendment (Increased Penalties for Damage to\nTasmanian War Memorials) Act 2026\nAct No. of 2026\ns. 3 Part 1 – Preliminary\n4\n3. Repeal of Act\nThis Act is repealed on the first anniversary of\nthe day on which it commenced.\n\nPolice Offences Amendment (Increased Penalties for Damage to\nTasmanian War Memorials) Act 2026\nAct No. of 2026\nPart 2 – Police Offences Act 1935 Amended s. 4\n5\nPART 2 – POLICE OFFENCES ACT 1935 AMENDED\n4. Principal Act\nIn this Part, the Police Offences Act 1935* is\nreferred to as the Principal Act.\n5. Section 37AAA amended (Interference with war\nmemorials)\nSection 37AAA of the Principal Act is amended\nas follows:\n(a) by omitting the penalty from subsection\n(1);\n(b) by inserting the following subsections\nafter subsection (1):\n(1A) A person who contravenes\nsubsection (1) is guilty of an\noffence and is liable on summary\nconviction to –\n(a) a penalty not less than 25\npenalty units and not\nmore than 500 penalty\nunits; or\n(b) imprisonment for a term\nnot exceeding 7 years.\n_______________________________________________________________\n*No. 44 of 1935\n\nPolice Offences Amendment (Increased Penalties for Damage to\nTasmanian War Memorials) Act 2026\nAct No. of 2026\ns. 5 Part 2 – Police Offences Act 1935 Amended\n6\n(1B) In addition to any other penalty\nthat may be imposed in respect of\nan offence against subsection (1),\nthe court –\n(a) if it considers it\nreasonable in the\ncircumstances, is to make\na community correction\norder, under the\nSentencing Act 1997, that\nrequires the person\nconvicted of the offence\nto perform a period of\ncommunity service in the\ncommunity where the\noffence occurred; and\n(b) may also impose such\nother sanctions, and make\nsuch other orders, as the\ncourt considers\nappropriate in the\ncircumstances.\n\nPolice Offences Amendment (Increased Penalties for Damage to\nTasmanian War Memorials) Act 2026\nAct No. of 2026\nPart 3 – Sentencing Act 1997 Amended s. 6\n7\nPART 3 – SENTENCING ACT 1997 AMENDED\n6. Principal Act\nIn this Part, the Sentencing Act 1997* is referred\nto as the Principal Act.\n7. Section 67 amended (Interpretation of Division)\nSection 67 of the Principal Act is amended by\nomitting “section 37 of the Police Offences Act\n1935” from the definition of unlawfully injuring\nproperty and substituting “section 37 or 37AAA\nof the Police Offences Act 1935”.\n_______________________________________________________________\n*No. 59 of 1997\nGovernment Printer, Tasmania","sortOrder":0}],"analysis":{"flash_summary":{"complexity_score":3,"scope_assessment":{"changed":false,"description":"The bill is tightly circumscribed: it does not broaden the types of conduct captured beyond existing \"interference with war memorials\" but increases maximum penalties (s.5(1A)), requires locality-based community service where reasonable (s.5(1B)), and makes a consequential change to the Sentencing Act to treat the offence as 'unlawfully injuring property' (s.7). Those are quantitative and procedural extensions rather than an expansion of subject-matter scope. The one-year sunset (s.3) limits the duration of the change rather than expanding long‑term scope."},"complexity_factors":["Short, narrowly focused bill: three operative changes (commencement/repeal, amendment to Police Offences Act s.37AAA, amendment to Sentencing Act s.67).","Introduces a new penalty band: minimum 25 and maximum 500 penalty units (s.5(1A)), referencing an external, separately-set penalty unit value.","Adds imprisonment up to 7 years on summary conviction (s.5(1A))—creates interpretive interaction with court jurisdictional rules about summary v indictable procedure.","Mandates locality-based community correction orders where the court considers it reasonable (s.5(1B))—operational detail left to courts and corrections administrations.","Cross-reference change in Sentencing Act s.67 brings the new offence into the broader category of 'unlawfully injuring property', affecting other sentencing rules (s.7).","Sunset clause repealing the Act after one year (s.3) adds a temporal implementation constraint and potential for administrative churn."],"plain_english_summary":"**What this bill does (mechanically)\n\n- Raises the criminal penalties for interfering with (damaging, defacing or otherwise tampering with) war memorials in Tasmania by amending section 37AAA of the Police Offences Act 1935. The existing penalty in subsection (1) is removed and replaced with a new penalty range of at least 25 penalty units and up to 500 penalty units, or imprisonment for up to 7 years (see s.5(1A)).\n\n- Gives courts a specific, additional sentencing option when someone is convicted of that offence: if the court considers it reasonable it must order a community correction order requiring the offender to perform community service in the locality where the offence occurred; the court may also make any other appropriate sanctions or orders (see s.5(1B)).\n\n- Updates the Sentencing Act 1997 so that offending under the new section 37AAA is explicitly included in the definition of \"unlawfully injuring property\" (see s.7).\n\n- The whole Act commences on Royal Assent and contains a sunset clause: it is repealed automatically one year after commencement (see ss.2–3).\n\nWho this affects\n\n- Offenders: people who damage, desecrate or otherwise interfere with war memorials in Tasmania will face substantially higher fines or the possibility of a prison term (s.5(1A)), and are more likely to be required to perform community service in the locality of the offence (s.5(1B)).\n\n- Courts and magistrates: must apply the new penalty band, consider imposing a community correction order requiring locality-based community service, and may impose other sanctions (s.5(1A)–(1B)).\n\n- Local communities and service organisations: if courts impose community service in the community where the offence occurred, local organisations may receive additional obligations or volunteer labour; local governments may be involved in supervising or arranging placements.\n\n- Police and prosecutors: increased penalties can change charging and prosecutorial decisions and may shift enforcement priorities toward these offences.\n\nWhy it matters (stated purpose, and tested against costs and trade-offs)\n\n- Stated purpose: the bill is framed to increase penalties for damage to Tasmanian war memorials (title and s.5). That is achieved by raising the financial penalty floor and ceiling and creating a possible prison maximum, plus a statutory prompt to order community service in the community affected (s.5(1A)–(1B)).\n\n- Costs and who pays: convicted offenders bear the direct costs (fines, community service, imprisonment). Indirectly, local communities and service agencies may incur administrative or supervision costs when community service is ordered in their area (s.5(1B)). The justice system bears prosecution, court and custodial or community-supervision costs.\n\n- Incentives and behaviour changes: higher penalties can increase the expected cost of damaging war memorials and so may deter some potential offenders. The requirement (where reasonable) to perform community service locally creates a mechanism that returns offender labour to the community the offence affected (s.5(1B)). There is a possible substitution effect: offenders deterred from war-memorial damage might shift to other property offences unless general deterrence is broader.\n\n- Trade-offs and opportunity costs: resources (police, prosecutors, courts, corrections/community corrections) may be reallocated to pursue and manage these cases; the one-year sunset (s.3) creates a temporal limit that may force rapid implementation and review, but also creates administrative churn if reintroduction is considered.\n\n- Implementation and compliance risks: the phrase \"in the community where the offence occurred\" will require operational decisions by courts and corrections agencies about what placements are available locally and who supervises community service (s.5(1B)). The Act increases maximum penalties on \"summary conviction\" up to 7 years (s.5(1A)), which requires attention to court jurisdictional rules and how cases are prosecuted (magistrates' court limits and whether some matters must be dealt with on indictment).\n\n- Bureaucratic discretion: the court retains discretion to decide whether a locality-based community correction order is \"reasonable\" (s.5(1B)(a)), and to choose \"other sanctions\" (s.5(1B)(b)). That leaves implementation detail to judicial practice and to corrections agencies arranging placements.\n\nLegal interactions to note\n\n- The amount of a \"penalty unit\" is fixed elsewhere in Tasmanian law; the monetary value of 25–500 penalty units therefore depends on that separate indexation mechanism (s.5(1A)).\n\n- Amending the Sentencing Act definition of \"unlawfully injuring property\" to include s.37AAA (s.7) means that other sentencing provisions that hinge on that definition will now capture these war-memorial offences as well.\n\nPractical summary (who pays, who decides, what behaviour changes)\n\n- Who pays: convicted persons (fines, community service, custody); local community organisations and corrections agencies may incur arranging/supervision costs.\n- Who decides: courts decide penalties and whether a locality-based community correction order is \"reasonable\"; police and prosecutors decide charging.\n- Behaviour likely to change: increased legal risk for damaging war memorials; courts will be prompted to order local community service where reasonable; corrections and local organisations will need to accommodate locality-based placements.\n\nPrimary sections: commencement and repeal (ss.2–3); penalty and community service amendments to Police Offences Act s.37AAA (s.5); Sentencing Act s.67 amendment to include s.37AAA (s.7)."}},"importantCases":[],"_links":{"self":"/api/acts/police-offences-amendment-increased-penalties-for-damage-to-tasmanian-war-memorials-bill-2026","history":"/api/acts/police-offences-amendment-increased-penalties-for-damage-to-tasmanian-war-memorials-bill-2026/history","analysis":"/api/acts/police-offences-amendment-increased-penalties-for-damage-to-tasmanian-war-memorials-bill-2026/analysis","conflicts":"/api/acts/police-offences-amendment-increased-penalties-for-damage-to-tasmanian-war-memorials-bill-2026/conflicts","importantCases":"/api/acts/police-offences-amendment-increased-penalties-for-damage-to-tasmanian-war-memorials-bill-2026/important-cases","documents":"/api/acts/police-offences-amendment-increased-penalties-for-damage-to-tasmanian-war-memorials-bill-2026/documents"}}