Australian Capital Territory Current Acts Australian Capital Territory Current Acts(1) This section applies if a person is an Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander person.
(2) The police officer must not ask the suspect to consent to a forensic procedure unless—
(a) an interview friend is present; or
(b) the suspect has expressly and voluntarily waived the suspect's right to have an interview friend present.
(3) In addition to the matters mentioned in section 24, the police officer must—
(a) inform the suspect that the Aboriginal legal service will be notified that the suspect will be asked to consent to a forensic procedure; and
(b) as soon as practicable, notify the Aboriginal legal service.
(4) Subsection (3) does not apply if the suspect—
(a) has arranged for a lawyer to be present; or
(b) expressly waives the suspect's right to have a lawyer present.
(5) After notifying the Aboriginal legal service under subsection (3), the police officer must allow the suspect to communicate, or attempt to communicate with the interview friend or lawyer in private, unless—
(a) the suspect is under arrest; and
(b) the officer believes on reasonable grounds that the suspect may attempt to destroy or contaminate any evidence that may be obtained by carrying out the forensic procedure.
Note Section 107 states that the burden lies on the prosecution to prove on the balance of probabilities that a police officer had a belief on reasonable grounds.
(6) An interview friend (other than a lawyer) of the suspect may be excluded from the presence of the officer and the suspect if the interview friend unreasonably interferes with or obstructs the officer in performing a function under this part.
(7) In this section:
"Aboriginal legal service" means the Aboriginal Legal Service (NSW/ACT) Limited (ACN 118 431 066).