Commonwealth Consolidated Acts Commonwealth Consolidated Acts(1) A protective service officer who arrests a person for an offence must inform the person, at the time of the arrest, of the offence for which the person is arrested.
(2) It is sufficient compliance with subsection (1) if the protective service officer informs the person of the substance of the offence, and it is not necessary to do so in language of a precise or technical nature.
(3) Subsection (1) does not apply to the arrest by a protective service officer of a person for an offence if the person, by his or her own actions, makes it impracticable for the protective service officer to inform the person of the offence.
(4) Where a protective service officer who arrests a person for an offence believes or has reasonable grounds for believing that the person is unable, by reason of inadequate knowledge of the English language or any physical or mental disability, to understand the substance of the offence for which the person is arrested, the protective service officer must, as soon as practicable, take all reasonable steps to ensure that the person is provided with an explanation of the substance of the offence that the person is able to understand.