Untitled document
Crimes Amendment (Identity Crime) Act 2009
No. 22 of 2009
table of provisions
Section Page
Part 1—Preliminary
1Purposes
2Commencement
Part 2—Amendment of the Crimes Act 1958
3New Division 2AA of Part I inserted
Division 2AA—Identity crime
192ADefinitions
192BMaking, using or supplying identification information
192CPossession of identification information
192DPossession of equipment used to make etc. identification documentation
192ENot an offence to attempt to commit an identity crime offence
4New section 426 inserted
426Alternative verdict for identity crime offences
Part 3—Amendment of the Sentencing Act 1991
5Sentence discount for guilty plea
6New Part 4A inserted
Part 4A—Identity Crime certificates
89EDefinitions
89FCourt may issue certificate to victim of identity crime
89GContents of certificate
89HProcess for dealing with application
7New section 137 inserted
137Transitional provision—Crimes Amendment (Identity Crime) Act 2009
Part 4—Amendment of the Children, Youth and Families Act 2005
8Sentence discount for guilty plea
9New section 608 inserted
608Transitional provision—Crimes Amendment (Identity Crime) Act 2009
Part 5—Repeal of Amending Act
10Repeal of amending Act
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Endnotes
Crimes Amendment (Identity Crime) Act 2009
No. 22 of 2009
[Assented to 17 June 2009]
The Parliament of Victoria enacts:
Part 1—Preliminary
1Purposes
The purposes of this Act are—
(a)to amend the Crimes Act 1958 to create offences in relation to identity crime; and
(b)to amend the Sentencing Act 1991 to provide for the issue of certificates to victims of identity crime, certifying that they have been the victims of identity crime; and
(c)to amend the Children, Youth and Families Act 2005 and the Sentencing Act 1991 to make technical amendments as to sentencing procedure.
2Commencement
(1)Subject to subsection (2), this Act comes into operation on a day or days to be proclaimed.
(2)If a provision of this Act does not come into operation before 1 October 2009, it comes into operation on that day.
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Part 2—Amendment of the Crimes Act 1958
3New Division 2AA of Part I inserted
After Division 2 of Part I of the Crimes Act 1958 insert—
"Division 2AA—Identity crime
192ADefinitions
In this Division—
identification documentation means a document or other thing that—
(a)contains or incorporates identification information; and
(b)is capable of being used by a person for the purpose of pretending to be, or passing themself off as, another person (whether living or dead, or real or fictitious);
identification information means information relating to a person (whether living or dead, or real or fictitious) that is capable of being used (whether alone or in conjunction with other information) to identify, or purportedly identify, the person, being information such as—
(a)a name, address, date of birth or place of birth;
(b)information as to the person's marital status;
(c)information that identifies another person as a relative of the person;
(d)a driver licence or driver licence number;
(e)a passport or passport number;
(f)biometric data;
(g)a voice print;
(h)a credit or debit card, its number or data stored or encrypted on it;
(i)a financial account number, user name or password;
(j)a digital signature;
(k)a series of numbers or letters (or both) intended for use as a means of personal identification;
(l)an Australian Business Number within the meaning of the A New Tax System (Australian Business Number) Act 1999 of the Commonwealth.
192BMaking, using or supplying identification information
(1)A person, who makes, uses or supplies identification information (that is not identification information that relates to that person), and—
(a)who is aware that, or aware that there is a substantial risk that, the information is identification information; and
(b)who intends to use or supply the information to commit an indictable offence, or to facilitate the commission of an indictable offence—
is guilty of an offence and liable to level 6 imprisonment (5 years maximum).
Note
See section 426 for an alternative verdict for this offence.
(2)A person may be found guilty of an offence against this section even if the commission of the indictable offence is impossible.
(3)It is not a defence to a charge for an offence against this section that the person to whom the identification information relates consented to the making, use or supply of the identification information.
192CPossession of identification information
(1)A person, who possesses identification information (that is not identification information that relates to the person), and—
(a)who is aware that, or aware that there is a substantial risk that, the information is identification information; and
(b)who intends to use the information to commit an indictable offence, or to facilitate the commission of an indictable offence—
is guilty of an offence and liable to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 3 years.
(2)A person may be found guilty of an offence against this section even if the commission of the indictable offence is impossible.
(3)It is not a defence to a charge for an offence against this section that the person to whom the identification information relates consented to the possession of the identification information.
192DPossession of equipment used to make etc. identification documentation
(1)A person, who possesses equipment that is capable of being used to make, use, supply or retain identification documentation, and—
(a)who intends to use, or who intends that another person will use, the equipment to make, use, supply or retain identification documentation; and
(b)who intends to use any such identification documentation to commit an indictable offence or to facilitate the commission of an indictable offence—
is guilty of an offence and liable to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 3 years.
(2)A person may be found guilty of an offence against this section even if the commission of the indictable offence is impossible.
192ENot an offence to attempt to commit an identity crime offence
It is not an offence to attempt to commit an offence against section 192B, 192C or 192D.".
4New section 426 inserted
After section 425 of the Crimes Act 1958 insert—
"426 Alternative verdict for identity crime offences
If, on the trial of a person charged with an offence against section 192B, the jury are not satisfied that the person charged is guilty of the offence charged but are satisfied that the person charged is guilty of an offence against section 192C, the jury may acquit the person charged of the offence charged and find the person charged guilty of an offence against section 192C and the person charged is liable to punishment accordingly.".
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Part 3—Amendment of the Sentencing Act 1991
5Sentence discount for guilty plea
In section 6AAA(4) of the Sentencing Act 1991, for "cause to be noted in the records of the court," substitute "record or cause to be recorded (whether in writing or in another form)".
6New Part 4A inserted
After Part 4 of the Sentencing Act 1991 insert—
"Part 4A—Identity Crime certificates
89EDefinitions
In this Part—
identification information has the same meaning as in section 192A of the Crimes Act 1958;
identity crime offence means an offence a necessary element of which consists of the use of identification information (that is not identification information that relates to the offender);
victim, in relation to an identity crime offence, means a person whose identification information has been used, without that person's consent, in connection with the commission of the offence.
89FCourt may issue certificate to victim of identity crime
(1)If a court finds a person guilty of an identity crime offence the court may issue a certificate to a person who is a victim of the offence setting out that the person is a victim of the offence.
(2)The court may issue a certificate under subsection (1) on its own motion or on application—
(a)by the victim; or
(b)on the victim's behalf, by any person other than the offender, if the victim is a child or is incapable of making the application by reason of injury, disease, senility, illness or physical or mental impairment; or
(c)by the person who prosecuted the identity crime offence, or another person on that person's behalf.
89GContents of certificate
A certificate issued under section 89F—
(a)must set out—
(i)the identity crime offence to which the certificate relates; and
(ii)the name of the victim; and
(b)may set out any other matter the court considers relevant.
89HProcess for dealing with application
(1)In any proceeding dealing with an application for a certificate under this Part, the court—
(a)is not required to have regard to the rules of evidence; and
(b)may inform itself in any way that it thinks fit.
(2)In any proceeding dealing with an application for a certificate under this Part, the court may direct that notice be given to the person who prosecuted the identity crime offence to appear at the hearing of the application to provide assistance to the court in relation to the application.
(3)A person to whom notice is given under subsection (2) may appoint another person to appear on that person's behalf at the hearing.
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7New section 137 inserted
After section 136 of the Sentencing Act 1991 insert—
"137 Transitional provision—Crimes Amendment (Identity Crime) Act 2009
(1)Section 6AAA, as amended by section 5 of the Crimes Amendment (Identity Crime) Act 2009, applies to a sentence imposed on or after the commencement of section 5 of that Act irrespective of when the sentencing hearing commenced.
(2)An application may be made under section 89F in relation to an identity crime offence (within the meaning of section 89E) committed before the commencement of section 6 of the Crimes Amendment (Identity Crime) Act 2009.".
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Part 4—Amendment of the Children, Youth and Families Act 2005
8Sentence discount for guilty plea
In section 362A(3) of the Children, Youth and Families Act 2005, for "cause to be noted in the records of the Court," substitute "record or cause to be recorded (whether in writing or in another form)".
9New section 608 inserted
After section 607 of the Children, Youth and Families Act 2005 insert—
"608 Transitional provision—Crimes Amendment (Identity Crime) Act 2009
Section 362A, as amended by section 8 of the Crimes Amendment (Identity Crime) Act 2009, applies to a sentence imposed on or after the commencement of section 8 of that Act irrespective of when the sentencing hearing commenced.".
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Part 5—Repeal of Amending Act
10Repeal of amending Act
This Act is repealed on 1 July 2010.
Note
The repeal of this Act does not affect the continuing operation of the amendments made by it (see section 15(1) of the Interpretation of Legislation Act 1984).
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Endnotes
Minister's second reading speech—
Legislative Assembly: 12 March 2009
Legislative Council: 7 May 2009
The long title for the Bill for this Act was "A Bill for an Act to amend the Crimes Act 1958 to create offences in respect of identity crimes, the Sentencing Act 1991 to provide for the issue of certificates to victims of identity crimes and as to sentencing procedure, to amend the Children, Youth and Families Act 2005 as to sentencing procedure and for other purposes."
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