464FRight of foreign national to communicate with consular office

464F Right of foreign national to communicate with consular office

(1) If a person in custody is not a citizen or permanent resident of Australia, the investigating official in whose custody the person then is must, before any questioning or investigation under section 464A(2) commences, inform the person in custody that he or she may communicate with or attempt to communicate with the consular office of the country of which the person is a citizen and, unless the investigating official believes on reasonable grounds that—

(a) the communication would result in the escape of an accomplice or the fabrication or destruction of evidence; or

(b) the questioning or investigation is so urgent, having regard to the safety of other people, that it should not be delayed—

the investigating official must defer the questioning or investigation for a time that is reasonable in the circumstances to enable the person to make, or attempt to make, the communication.

(2) Subject to subsection (1), if a person referred to in that subsection wishes to communicate with the consular office of the country of which he or she is a citizen, the investigating official in whose custody the person then is must afford the person reasonable facilities as soon as practicable to enable the person to do so.

S. 464F(2A) inserted by No. 72/2013 s. 7.

(2A) This section also applies to any questioning or investigation in accordance with an order made under section 464B(5) or any questioning conducted by consent under section 464B(11), unless Part IC of the Crimes Act 1914 of the Commonwealth applies.

(3) This section does not apply to questioning or investigation in connection with an offence under section 49(1) of the Road Safety Act 1986.

S. 464FA (Heading) amended by No. 26/2023 s. 78(1).

S. 464FA inserted by No. 48/2018 s. 18.

464FA Victorian Aboriginal Legal Service to be notified if Aboriginal person or Torres Strait Islander taken into custody

S. 464FA(1) substituted by No. 26/2023 s. 78(2).

(1) An investigating official must notify VALS if—

(a) a person is taken into custody; and

(i) the person states (whether or not in response to a question asked by an investigating official) that they are an Aboriginal person or a Torres Strait Islander; or

(ii) the investigating official who took the person into custody knows or is of the opinion that the person is an Aboriginal person or a Torres Strait Islander.

Section 464AAB requires that an investigating official who takes a person into custody must ask the person whether they are an Aboriginal person or a Torres Strait Islander.