Tougher penalties proposed for spitting, urinating and throwing faeces at emergency services workers

People who urinate on, spit or throw faeces at police officers and other emergency service workers could be jailed for up to five years under proposed new laws.

Urinating on and spitting and throwing faeces at police officers and other emergency service workers will be treated as a criminal offence under new laws proposed by the SA Government.

Attorney-General Vickie Chapman said the legislation will soon be introduced to State Parliament – and means people convicted of spitting or throwing human biological material at emergency workers could face up to five years’ imprisonment.

“There is no excuse for this type of disgusting behaviour and these changes will ensure our courts can take a far tougher stance,” she said.

“(This is) to recognise that it must be a dedicated criminal offence for such behaviour.”

Police officers, prison officers, paramedics, firefighters and SES volunteers will be protected under the changes.

Human biological material counts as blood, saliva, semen, faeces or urine.

The changes are part of the Criminal Law Consolidation (Assaults on Prescribed Emergency Workers) Amendment Bill 2019.

Ms Chapman said the offence of assaulting police would come under more serious criminal charges in the bill.

“Hindering police is a matter that SAPOL and the Police Association have taken up,” she said.

“They have sought the removal of these types of offences from the summary law... in that regard we’ve agreed.”

The announcement follows recent concerns from SA Police and the Police Association that new laws with harsher penalties are urgently needed to stem the hundreds of attacks on officers each year.

Opposition police spokesman Lee Odenwalder called the bill “weak” and said it was only “tinkering around the edges”.

“What (our bill does) is change the Sentencing Act. It makes any assault with injury on any of those workers a designated offence, which means they can’t get a suspended sentence twice,” he said.

“(The proposed bill is) nowhere near what the police officers and emergency services workers deserve.

“(And) it’s certainly not what the police and Police Association have been talking about for the last six months.”

The Opposition is consulting on its own legislation.

The Police Association has been contacted for comment.