The Law Handbook 2024

1052 Section 11: Rights, activism and fair treatment at work Land, Water and Planning ( DELWP ) to declare certain areas to be public safety zones and to exclude the public from those areas of state forest. Declared areas can include public recreational areas. Offences under the SPL Act tend to relate to breaches of these public safety zones and attract fines of up to 20 pu (ss 10, 14, 15, 16). The SFT Act includes the following offences: • failing to give your name and address to a DELWP officer (s 84; maximum penalty: five pu); • hindering or obstructing a DELWP officer while they are exercising their duties or powers under the SFT Act (s 86; maximum penalty: 60 pu); and • threatening or abusing a DELWP officer while they are executing their duty (s 87; penalty: 60 pu). For more information about offences relating to forest operations, contact Lawyers for Forests (see ‘Contacts’ at the end of this chapter). Protests and non-police officials At protests, police officers are increasingly being assisted by other officials. For example, officers from the Victorian Government Department of Environment, Land, Water and Planning assist police officers at forest protests, and security firm personnel attend demonstrations where private property is at risk. The powers of government or quasi-government officials are specified in the relevant legislation. Protective service officers The Victoria Police Act 2013 (Vic) designates the powers of protective service officers ( PSOs ). In the course of their duties, PSOs may exercise the same powers and responsibilities as police officers. Like police, they have additional arrest powers provided to them under section 459 of the Crimes Act (Vic) (see Chapter 3.5: Arrest, search, interrogation and your rights). You can make a complaint against a PSO in the same way as you can make a complaint against a police officer. For more information, see Chapter 12.4: Complaints against Victoria Police. Private security guards Private security guards are not police officers; they do not have most of the powers that police officers have. The power of arrest of private security guards is usually limited to the citizen’s arrest powers. A citizen can only use proportionate force to prevent the commission of an indictable (serious) offence, or to assist the lawful arrest of a person suspected of committing any offence (s 462A Crimes Act (Vic)) . In doing so, a citizen cannot break rules and regulations. (See ‘Use of force in arrest’ in Chapter 3.5: Arrest, search, interrogation and your rights.) Like police officers, private security guards can only use ‘reasonable and proportionate force’ to perform their lawful functions. The other additional power that security guards have is that which is vested in them by the owners of the private property, to protect that property. In some cases, this power may be written in legislation about the organisation, such as the Act establishing a university. The Victorian Ombudsman can only investigate the conduct of local and state government employees. The private security industry is regulated by the Licensing Services Division of Victoria Police (email: licensingservices@police.vic.gov.au) . Alternatively, where you have sufficient evidence and significant injuries have been incurred, civil action against the private security firm may be appropriate. More information More information related to community activism is available on these websites: • Activist Rights: www.activistrights.org.au • Our Community information portal: www.ourcommunity.com.au Contacts Lawyers for Forests Web: www.lawyersforforests.org.au Local Community Insurance Services Tel: 1300 853 800 Email: insurance@lcis.com.au Web: www.localcommunityinsurance.com.au