(1) The Commission consists of a Chief Commissioner and 1 other Commissioner appointed by the Governor. (2) The other Commissioner may only be appointed with the concurrence of the Chief Commissioner.
(1) Except as otherwise provided by this section, the functions of the Commission are exercisable by a Commissioner, and any act, matter or thing done in the name of, or on behalf of, the Commission by a Commissioner is taken to have been done by the Commission.
(1) Delegation by Commission The Commission may delegate to an authorised person any of the functions of the Commission or of a Commissioner, other than this power of delegation.
(1) The functions of the Commission include the following—
(a) to assemble evidence that may be admissible in the prosecution of a person for a criminal offence against the law of the State and to give any such evidence to the Director of Public Prosecutions, (b) to assemble evidence that may be used in—
(i) the investigation (whether by the Commission or by any other body) of a misconduct matter, or (ii) deciding whether to take action under section 173 or 181D of the , Police Act 1990 and to give any such evidence to the Minister, the Commissioner of Police, Crime Commissioner or other appropriate authority in the State, (c) to assemble evidence that may be used in deciding to take disciplinary action against a person (other than a police officer) for a disciplinary infringement under the law of the State and to give any such evidence to the appropriate authority in the State, (d) to assemble evidence obtained in the course of investigations by the Commission (being evidence that may be admissible in the prosecution of a person for a criminal offence against or a disciplinary infringement under the law of the Commonwealth or another State or Territory) and give it to the Attorney General, and Minister for the Prevention of Domestic Violence or to the appropriate prosecutorial authority in the jurisdiction concerned. (2) Evidence of the kind referred to in subsection (1) may be accompanied by any observations that the Commission thinks appropriate and (in the case of evidence given to the Attorney General, and Minister for the Prevention of Domestic Violence) recommendations as to what action the Commission considers should be taken in relation to the evidence.
(1) The Commission must keep under scrutiny the systems established within the NSW Police Force and the Crime Commission for dealing with misconduct matters. For that purpose, the Commission may request the Commissioner of Police and the Crime Commissioner to provide information about those systems and their operation. (2) Without limiting subsection (1), for the purpose of ascertaining whether or not the requirements of this Act and Part 8A of the are being complied with by the Commissioner of Police and other members of the NSW Police Force, the Commission— Police Act 1990
(a) must inspect the records of the NSW Police Force at least once every 12 months, and (b) may inspect the records of the NSW Police Force at any time. (3) Without limiting subsection (1), for the purpose of ascertaining whether or not the requirements of this Act are being complied with by the Crime Commissioner and officers of the Crime Commission, the Commission—
(a) must inspect the records of the Crime Commission at least once every 12 months, and (b) may inspect the records of the Crime Commission at any time.
(1) This section applies to the following officers—
(a) the Ombudsman, (b) the Crime Commissioner, (c) the Commissioner of Police, (d) the ICAC Commissioner, (e) the principal officer of a public authority, (e1) the Children’s Guardian, (f) an officer who constitutes a public authority. (2) An officer to whom this section applies is under a duty to report to the Commission any matter that the officer suspects on reasonable grounds concerns or may concern officer misconduct or serious maladministration unless the matter is of a kind that any guideline issued under subsection (5) provides does not need to be reported. (3) The report must be in writing.
(1) A witness who is appearing or is about to appear or who has appeared at an examination may apply to the Attorney General, and Minister for the Prevention of Domestic Violence for legal or financial assistance.
(1) The Commission may recommend to the Attorney General, and Minister for the Prevention of Domestic Violence that a person be granted (under section 32 of the ) an indemnity from prosecution. Criminal Procedure Act 1986
(1) The Commissioner of Police may (verbally or in writing) declare an incident to be a critical incident for the purposes of this Part if—
(a) the Commissioner of Police becomes aware that an incident involving a member of the NSW Police Force has occurred that exhibits the features of a critical incident set out in section 110, or (b) the Commissioner of Police has other grounds for considering it is in the public interest to do so. Note— The Commissioner of Police may delegate the Commissioner of Police’s functions under this Part to another member of the NSW Police Force—see the , section 31. Police Act 1990
(1) The Commissioner of Police is to ensure that the actions of members of the Police Force involved in a critical incident at the time of, and leading to, the critical incident are fully and properly investigated by the NSW Police Force. (2) Without limiting subsection (1), the investigation of a critical incident is to include an examination and report to each appropriate authority on any of the following that is applicable—
(a) the lawfulness and reasonableness of the actions of the members of the Police Force involved in the critical incident, (b) the extent to which those members complied with relevant legislation and policies, practices and procedures of the NSW Police Force, (c) any complaint about the conduct of those members that has been referred to the senior critical incident investigator, (d) any evidence of officer misconduct by those members, (e) the need (if any) for changes to relevant policies, practices and procedures of the NSW Police Force, (f) any systemic, safety or procedural issues arising from the actions of those members.
(1) In exercising its investigative and prevention functions, the Commission may work in co-operation with investigative agencies and such other persons and bodies as the Commission thinks appropriate (whether or not they are in or of the State).
(1) Conduct of the Commission or an officer of the Commission cannot be made the subject of a complaint, inquiry, investigation or other action under the or the Ombudsman Act 1974 , except in relation to matters referred to the Ombudsman or the Children’s Guardian by the Inspector. Children’s Guardian Act 2019 (2) Conduct of the Inspector or an officer of the Inspector can be made the subject of a complaint, inquiry, investigation or other action under the or the Ombudsman Act 1974 . Children’s Guardian Act 2019
(1) The Children’s Guardian, and any officer of the Children’s Guardian acting with the approval of the Children’s Guardian, may—
(a) disclose to the Commission information obtained by the Children’s Guardian or an officer of the Children’s Guardian in exercising functions under the or any other Act, or Children’s Guardian Act 2019 (b) give evidence before the Commission and produce any document to the Commission in respect of the information.
(1) Vetting information that is held by the Inspector or Commission or obtained under this section may be used in determining whether to appoint a person (an applicant ) as an officer of the Inspector or the Commission.(2) For the purposes of this section, vetting information is information of the following kind about an applicant, or about an associate or relative of an applicant—
(a) any criminal intelligence report or other criminal information, (b) information held in the Births, Deaths and Marriages Register, (c) information held by Transport for NSW constituted under the relating to licences or other authorities, offences or penalties, Transport Administration Act 1988 (d) information held by Corrective Services NSW or the Department of Communities and Justice, (e) information held by the Australian Crime Commission, (f) information held by a law enforcement agency, (g) information held by an agency of the Commonwealth or of the State or another State or Territory investigating public sector corruption, (h) information held by an agency of a jurisdiction outside Australia, being an agency responsible for the enforcement of laws of that jurisdiction, (i) information prescribed by the regulations that is held by a public authority or held by a Government agency of another jurisdiction (whether in or outside Australia). (3) The Inspector or Commission may, with the consent of an applicant, request a public authority or other person or body to disclose vetting information about the applicant. (4) The Inspector or Commission may also, without consent, request a public authority or other person or body (not being an agency of a jurisdiction outside Australia) to disclose vetting information about associates or relatives of the applicant.
(Sections 18 and 20)
(Sections 120 and 121)