NSW More Protection and Support for People in Witness Protection

Witness Protection Amendment Bill 2024

11 Feb 2025: Passed by Parliament and signed off by the governor.

This bill kicks in: TBA

Legislative Assembly

Legislative Council

Assent

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Topics

identity protection identity records law enforcement privacy witness protection witness safety

Introduced by: The Hon Yasmin Catley MP (ALP); The Hon Tara Moriarty MLC (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:

When a protected witness is required to give evidence in legal proceedings, the Commissioner of Police must issue a non-disclosure certificate. This certificate prevents the disclosure of the witness’s previous or new identity in court. Even the court must ensure that certain information about the witness's identity remains confidential unless it's necessary to test their credibility.
If there is a need to challenge a protected witness’s credibility, the court may grant special permission (after a rigorous review) to ask questions that could reveal their identity.
only the Commissioner of Police or the equivalent witness protection authority in another state or federal government can apply for changes to official records (like birth or death certificates) for protected witnesses. The Supreme Court must be involved in cases where entries in official records (e.g., birth, death, or marriage certificates) need to be modified or removed, ensuring strict legal oversight.
detailed records must be kept when changes are made to official registers (such as births or deaths), and these changes can only be reversed by court order if the witness is no longer under protection.

The Debate

What different members said when this bill was debated:

Susan Carter LIB

“I speak on behalf of the Opposition in support of the Witness Protection Amendment Bill 2024. The bill has rightly been characterised as an updating of legislation, almost housekeeping, that looks at whether the provisions that were initially made to protect witnesses are still current and appropriate today. All of that is entirely true, but that understates the importance of the bill before us.”

Official source →

Sue Higginson GRN

“I speak on behalf of The Greens in support of the Witness Protection Amendment Bill 2024. I thank those in the department and Ministers’ offices who gave us the briefing. They helped us to understand the provisions and importance of the bill.”

Official source →

Tara Moriarty ALP

“I commend the bill to the House.”

Official source →

News articles and press releases

Previous situation before this change

ChatGPT 4o — 2024-10-18

Under the existing Witness Protection Act 1995, the process for providing new identities to protected individuals was less detailed in the law. While protected witnesses could be given new identities, there was less specificity around how this process worked in practice, especially when it came to managing those new identities during legal proceedings or when changes to official records (like birth or death certificates) were required.