Legislation dealing with pawnbrokers/2nd-hand dealers

17/3/94

The State Government will make it tougher for criminals to dispose of stolen goods as part of its determination to crack down on crime in the community.

Police Minister Bob Wiese said drafting of the new Pawnbrokers and Second-hand Dealers legislation had been approved by Cabinet and would include provisions to make it harder in future for pawnbrokers and second-hand dealers to accept stolen property.

"We will make it tougher for dealers to get a licence and easier to take away the licence if there are breaches of the new laws," Mr Wiese said.  "Police will be responsible for licensing dealers."

Under new legislation, dealers will have to:

·       provide police with a copy of all transactions;

·       follow guidelines on how long a pawned item must be held and how it can be disposed of.

"Under existing laws some of which are over 130 years old, it has been difficult to prove property being offered for sale was stolen," Mr Wiese said.

"The police have been hampered in their operations, as the records currently required to be kept by pawnbrokers and second-hand dealers do not provide sufficient information about the goods or the identification of the person pawning or selling the goods."

The Minister said the police and major sections of the industry were keen to ensure that pawnbrokers and second-hand dealers were not used by criminals as an outlet for stolen goods.

The old legislation had been the subject of a number of reviews, including a major review by the Law Reform Commission.

"The recommendations of all these reviews would have meant massive redrafting, so I intend to repeal the old legislation which has controlled pawnbrokers, second-hand dealers and marine store dealers and introduce a new Bill into Parliament during the Autumn Session," Mr Wiese said.

"The Bill is an opportunity to provide modern regulations and guidelines for how long a pawned item must be held, how it can be disposed of after that period, what happens to surplus cash from that sale and how disputes relating to the ownership of items should be resolved."

The Minister said one of the most important aspects of the legislation to prevent the pawning of stolen goods was that pawnbrokers and second-hand dealers would be compelled to provide police with details of all transactions.

The legislation would enable pawnbrokers and second-hand dealers to establish and utilise a computer networking system where dealers would down-load their records through modem into the police computer.

This would provide an immediate check against police records of stolen and lost property.

Dealers would be prohibited from receiving goods from a person less than 18 years of age and would be required to establish and record the identity of the person presenting goods by using a photographic driver's licence, passport or an identity system currently required by banks and financial institutions.

"There is a public perception that the industry has become a mechanism for disposing of stolen property, a perception which the industry itself has been fighting hard to remove," Mr Wiese said.

"This legislation will go a long way to ensuring that the industry cannot be used for this purpose and will make it much easier for the police to ensure that stolen property is identified and recovered and that those responsible for stealing goods and property are apprehended and dealt with by the courts.

"The new legislation will reduce the level of housebreaking and burglary because the criminals will find it much more difficult to dispose of stolen goods."

Media contact:  Brian Coulter 222 9595 or 481 2133