Ms JODIE HARRISON (Charlestown—Minister for Women, Minister for Seniors, and Minister for the Prevention of Domestic Violence and Sexual Assault) (16:48): I speak in support the Crimes (Domestic and Personal Violence) and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 2026. The Minns Labor Government has a proud record of ensuring that our laws keep pace with technological change. One example from last year was our legislation to outlaw both the creation and distribution of sexually explicit deepfake images. With that legislation now in effect, law enforcement and prosecutors are equipped with the tools they need. It means that they can crackdown on this egregious abuse and send a clear zero tolerance message to those who create such vile material.

The bill before the House today builds on that record. Too often, abusers rely on technology to exploit their victims, whether it be in a domestic and family violence or organised crime context. We know that perpetrators of domestic and family violence use tracking and other surveillance devices to stalk, intimidate, monitor and harass victim-survivors. Figures from the NSW Crime Commission's Project Hakea report should deeply concern every member of this House. Of the more than 3,100 tracking device customers assessed during that investigation, 25 per cent had a domestic and family violence background and126 were apprehended violence order defendants at the time they purchased the device. The 100 most prolific purchasers of the devices within that sample were twice as likely to be apprehended violence order defendants or charged with domestic and family violence offences.

Other findings from Project Hakea reveal that tracking and surveillance devices are widely available and can be easily purchased in New South Wales; some private investigators and spy stores promote the illegal use of surveillance devices and provide illegal services to customers; charges laid under the Surveillance Devices Act 2007 under-represent the true extent of tracking device offending; and law enforcement efforts to investigate criminal offences and locate tracking devices are frustrated by a lack of licensing and registration requirements. The Government is responding to the findings of Project Hakea. In practice, the bill strengthens existing criminal offences, inserts new criminal offences and amends the regulatory framework of the security industry to ensure that our laws change in line with evolving technology and new methods of offending.

I acknowledge everyone involved in the consultation on the reforms, including legal and justice stakeholders and members of the Coercive Control Domestic and Family Violence Service Delivery Reference Group. The bill is about building a safer New South Wales for all of us. It amends the Crimes (Domestic and Personal Violence) Act 2007 to capture third-party involvement in stalking and covert stalking. That amendment determines that a person stalks another person if they direct a third party to perform acts prescribed in section 8 (1) that constitute stalking and the third party does the act because of that direction. The new covert stalking offence will apply to a person who intentionally stalks a victim in circumstances where the victim is unaware of the stalking while it is happening and a reasonable person would consider that the victim would fear physical or mental harm had they been aware. The offence will carry a maximum penalty of five years imprisonment or 50 penalty units, which is $5,500, or both.

The bill also amends the Surveillance Devices Act 2007 to clarify what it means to use a surveillance device and criminalises advertising to promote their unlawful use. That responds to recommendation 5 (e) of the Project Hakea report. The report noted that surveillance devices are often advertised for use in the covert monitoring of people and vehicles. Further, it found that providers frequently fail to caution customers about the unlawful use of those devices to monitor and record another person without consent. The maximum penalty for that offence will be five years imprisonment and/or 100 penalty units, which is $11,000, for an individual, or 500 penalty units, which is $55,000, otherwise.

Importantly, the bill amends the Security Industry Regulation 2016 to disqualify domestic violence offenders from obtaining a licence under the Security Industry Act 1997. That will ensure that domestic violence offenders do not work in an industry where they can exploit security knowledge, equipment and in some cases guns to terrorise victims. The Security Industry Regulation already captures disqualifying offences relating to weapons, drugs, assault, fraud, robbery, riot, stalking or intimidation, terrorism or organised criminal groups, and more. Security licence holders operate in a high-risk environment, and it makes sense for the Government to do everything it can to uphold the integrity of that industry. Essentially, the bill is designed to better protect the privacy and safety of victim-survivors of domestic violence and organised crime. We have seen perpetrators and criminals take advantage of modern technology to inflict abuse. Our laws must keep up to disrupt and prevent those crimes.

Since coming to government in 2023, Labor has passed significant legislation in the domestic and family violence space. It is now harder for those accused of serious domestic violence offences to be granted bail. Tougher penalties apply for repeat breaches of apprehended domestic violence orders. Serious domestic abuse prevention orders impose the strictest possible supervision and monitoring of high-risk perpetrators. The good character defence has been abolished. The distribution and creation of sexually explicit deepfake content have been outlawed. Greater protections have been extended to renters exposed to domestic and family violence, and we are closing a legal loophole that emerged following the outcome of BA v The King [2023] HCA 14. The work in this space never stops, and we will continue to work hard to drive the cultural change required to reduce gender‑based violence. I thank the Crime Commission for its critically important work on Project Hakea. Technological evolution is a double-edged sword—it delivers benefits but also brings new risks. It is core business for government to keep people safe, particularly those vulnerable to abuse, and the bill builds on this Government's commitment to do just that. I commend the bill to the House.