The Shop, Distributive, and Allied Employees Association (SDA) Tasmania welcomes recognition of retail and hospitality workers as frontline workers in the (Presumptive Sentencing for Assaults on Frontline Workers) Bill 2024, and the provision of greater protections for workers and consequences for offenders, however, we have reservations regarding mandatory sentencing which excludes judicial discretion.
We also note the prevalence of repeat youth offending in retail crime and violence settings and the exclusion of under 18-year-olds in the proposed Bill. We welcome strengthening of laws that recognise retail and hospitality workers as frontline workers and the risks they are exposed to in relation to assault that may occur in the performance of their work, however rather than support for the introduction of mandatory minimum sentencing for individuals convicted of assaults causing serious bodily harm to frontline workers, the SDA would be supporting of increasing maximum sentencing in these cases and also the need to reassess the scope of the Bill to ensure comprehensive protection for frontline workers which would include stronger penalties for basic assault even if no bodily harm is caused.
The SDA emphasizes the importance of preserving judicial discretion in sentencing and considering alignment with states such as NSW and South Australia in introducing a new offence to the criminal code seeing stronger penalties imposed.
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