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Parliamentary Questions


Question Without Notice No. 197 asked in the Legislative Council on 22 March 2022 by Hon Nick Goiran

Parliament: 41 Session: 1

G2G PASS — ACCESS — POLICE INVESTIGATIONS

197. Hon NICK GOIRAN to the minister representing the Minister for Police:

I refer to the Auditor General's report Safe WA—Application audit from 2 August 2021, which states —

In the absence of any comprehensive privacy legislation in Western Australia, including oversight mechanisms, citizens have a right to expect that their personal information will only be used by governments in line with stated purposes.

(1) Has the Western Australia Police Force accessed or used G2G PASS data for criminal investigations?

(2) If yes to (1), on how many occasions and on what dates?

(3) Further to (2), what has been the range of seriousness of the crimes being investigated?

Hon SAMANTHA ROWE replied:

I thank the member for some notice of the question. On behalf of the Minister for Emergency Services representing the Minister for Police, the following information has been provided by the Minister for Police.

(1) The Western Australia Police Force advise that, yes, when applying for a G2G PASS, as part of the terms and conditions, applicants consent to the collection and use of their information for a range of purposes. This includes allowing WA Police to use and disclose applicants' information for other policing purposes but only as required or authorised by law—for example, under formal legal processes for serious criminal investigations.

(2) On 22 occasions, G2G information has been accessed by way of a justice-approved order to produce notice for criminal investigations, other than Emergency Management Act 2005 matters. The dates were 18 December 2020, 7 January 2021, 8 January 2021, 12 January 2021, 13 January 2021, 17 January 2021, 23 January 2021, 25 January 2021, 3 March 2021, 4 March 2021, 5 March 2021, 11 March 2021, 14 April 2021, 10 May 2021, 19 May 2021, 21 May 2021, 4 June 2021, 24 August 2021, 23 September 2021, 30 October 2021, and 2 March 2022.

(3) Crimes investigated range from noncompliance to murder.