Page 4860 - Week 16 - Thursday, 29 November 1990
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accordance with section 431 of the Crimes Act. The other offence is found in proposed section 154. This makes criminal the activities of a person who intentionally, or recklessly, and without lawful authority or excuse, damages data in a computer. On the other hand, a person who accidentally or inadvertently causes damage would not commit an offence.
Existing offences in part IV of the Act which deal with malicious damage to property may already proscribe this conduct, but their application to computers is not free from doubt. To eliminate that doubt and to underline the especially serious nature of the activity, the Government has decided to create a specific offence. The maximum penalty for damaging data will be 10 years' imprisonment or, at the discretion of the court, a fine of up to $20,000 in accordance with section 431 of the Act. The maximum penalty for this offence is substantial, because the potential consequences of damaging electronic data can be catastrophic. Of course, the court retains its discretion to impose a lower penalty as the circumstances of each case dictate.
Mr Deputy Speaker, the new offences are intended to operate in conjunction with corresponding Commonwealth offences which apply to unauthorised access to computers owned or used by the Commonwealth, or to unauthorised access to any computer which is effected by means of a Commonwealth facility. The Alliance Government is committed to reforming the law where necessary. The march of technical progress means that traditional offences which evolved in the days of pen and paper and personal contact between transactors are not really suitable in an era of electronic data processing. The anti-social behaviour of those who break into computers must be curtailed. The law must adapt to changing circumstances, so the Government has moved to fill the gap in the law by creating offences specifically tailored for the special circumstances of computers.
Mr Deputy Speaker, I commend the Bill to the members of this Assembly and present the explanatory memorandum.
Debate (on motion by Mr Connolly) adjourned.
HEALTH SERVICES BILL 1990
MR HUMPHRIES (Minister for Health, Education and the Arts) (4.39): I present the Health Services Bill 1990. I move:
That this Bill be agreed to in principle.
On 4 July 1990, the Alliance Government announced changes in administrative arrangements consistent with its agenda for public sector reform, which is aimed at streamlining administrative structures and providing a sharper management focus for key areas of government activity. As
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