SA New Court Powers and Evidence Rules for Child Sexual Offence Proceedings

Statutes Amendment (Criminal Procedure and Evidence) Bill 2026

20 Aug 2026: The first house is examining this bill in detail, possibly in committee, before a final vote.

Legislative Council

House of Assembly

Assent

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Topics

child safety court appeals criminal procedure domestic abuse intervention orders sexual offences victim rights

Introduced by: The Hon Kyam Maher (ALP)

Links to official parliament websites

Official page: progress through parliament

Official page: bill text and explanatory notes

Effects of this bill

If this bill passes, it means that:

The Director of Public Prosecutions can now apply for intervention orders.
Superior courts can issue intervention orders for indictable offences without separate evidence if the prosecution and defendant agree.
Trial judges cannot tell juries that doubt about one part of a victim's evidence must affect how they view the victim's evidence generally.
Evidence of a defendant's sexual interest in children is presumed to have strong probative value in child sexual offence trials.
Courts cannot ignore evidence of child sexual offences just because the acts or victims differ, unless there are exceptional circumstances.
Defendants no longer need to show an appeal is likely to end a prosecution to appeal an interlocutory judgment.
Youths can only appeal interlocutory judgments if specific conditions are met, such as the judgment staying the proceedings.
The Court of Appeal can confirm, change, or reverse interlocutory judgments.

The Debate

What different members said when this bill was debated:

Nicola Centofanti LIB

“I rise to speak on the Statutes Amendment (Criminal Procedure and Evidence) Bill 2026 and indicate that the opposition will support the bill. The bill affects a number of important aspects of criminal procedure and evidence.”

Official source →

Russell Wortley ALP

“I stand to speak on the Statutes Amendment (Criminal Procedure and Evidence) Bill 2026. This bill contains justice-related amendments across various acts to address issues that have been brought to the government’s attention.”

Official source →

Kyam Maher ALP

“I would like to thank all the speakers for their contributions today. Certainly some of the issues that were raised by the honourable Leader of the Opposition are issues the government is working through and has had discussions with the Law Society and the Bar Association about in very recent times. I look forward to at a future date traversing those through the committee stage of the bill.”

Official source →