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AWU fronts Parliamentary inquiry to urge government to strengthen workplace violence penalties
AWU Queensland Secretary Stacey Schinnerl will fronted a Parliamentary Committee hearing today to call on the government to make it clearer in the law that assaults on Queensland Health operational workers should be treated as ‘serious assault’.
Section 340 of the Criminal Code 1899 provides for a crime of ‘serious assault’ against offenders who assault public officers at work.
There has long been confusion in the Queensland Health workforce about whether assaults perpetrated against certain employees are provided for in the Code.
This confusion is being caused by a very high rate of assault in the workplace, with very few charges of ‘serious assault’ laid on perpetrators who commit violence against staff.
The underutilisation of this section for assaults against Queensland Health operational workers would indicate that the current wording of the section does not clearly include these workers, especially considering the extreme rates of violence in their workplaces.
The AWU is of the firm belief that the Bill should be amended to clarify the scope of s340 of the Code to make it clear that the crime of ‘serious assault’ extends to offenders who assault Queensland Health operational workers while they are performing their work.
“Public hospital workers are subject to escalating levels of violence in the workplace,” Ms Schinnerl said.
“Recent data provided by Queensland Health to the Courier Mail in May suggested that we were on track to record over 45 assaults on hospital staff per day in the 2023 – 2024 financial year.
“Every worker deserves to come home at the end of their shift the same way they started it, and every worker deserves to be safe at work.
“The AWU is unapologetic in the belief that offenders who perpetrate violence against public servants in the course of their duty should face the full extent of the law.
“The current rate of violence in our public hospitals is an embarrassment to our society and requires serious action.”
Background
The AWU represents close to 20,000 workers in various industries across the public and private sectors. Among the union’s membership are thousands of workers in Queensland’s public hospitals.
These workers work in a variety of roles, including security officers, wardspeople, cleaners, food services workers, groundspeople, mental health nurses, clinical assistants and more.
‘Serious Assault’ In the Criminal Code
Section 340 of the Code provides for a crime of ‘serious assault’ against offenders who assault public officers while that officer is performing a function of their office.
This section acts as a powerful deterrent against assaulting certain public servants while they engaged in the course of their service.
As it is currently written, the section contains specific provisions and examples relating to police officers, child safety officers, correctional officers and employees of the Queensland Ambulance Service.
The AWU is submitting that the Code should specifically refer to Queensland Health operational workers in an attempt to end the underutilisation of the crime when charging someone who assaults a security officer or other operational worker in a public hospital.
The AWU believes this is leading to police opting to not utilise this section to charge offenders, despite constant cases of assault that would appear to meet the requirements of ‘serious assault’ under the Code.
The AWU Submission
The AWU Submission to the inquiry can be read here: https://acrobat.adobe.com/id/
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