SA Tribunal Must Keep Police Intelligence Secret, Therapy Notes Get More Court Protection, and Cooperating Witnesses Can Be Re-sentenced

Statutes Amendment (Attorney-General's Portfolio and Related Matters) Bill 2026

20 Aug 2026: MPs in the first house are debating whether this bill is a good idea in principle.

Legislative Council

House of Assembly

Assent

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Topics

child safety confidentiality court procedures criminal intelligence criminal justice evidence information sharing justice law enforcement road safety sentencing speeding offences +7 more

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 law changes how 'therapeutic context' is defined for evidence in court; communications are protected regardless of whether they relate to a sexual offence or the treatment of a victim.
The South Australian Civil and Administrative Tribunal must keep information secret if the Commissioner of Police labels it as criminal intelligence, including in child safety prohibited persons cases, and no longer needs a formal application from the Police Commissioner to do so.
The Crown, the South Australian Civil and Administrative Tribunal, and other people cannot be held legally responsible if the Tribunal failed to keep criminal intelligence secret before the new rules started.
The Commissioner of Police can make multiple applications to keep criminal intelligence secret, even if they already made a similar application in the past.
People who help law enforcement agencies can be considered for re-sentencing regardless of whether they cooperated before or after they were sentenced.
The definition of relevant speed limits for extreme speeding offences now includes 82km/h and section 82A.

The Debate

What different members said when this bill was debated:

Kyam Maher ALP

“I move: That this bill be now read a second time. Today, I introduce the Statutes Amendment (Attorney-General’s Portfolio and Related Matters) Bill 2026. From time to time, an Attorney-General’s portfolio bill is required to rectify often minor errors, omissions or other deficiencies identified in legislation committed to the Attorney-General.”

Official source →