The purpose of this Bill is to amend the Policing Act 2008 to increase the penalty for killing a police dog, from a maximum of 2 years to a maximum of 5 years imprisonment.

Currently under section 53 of the Policing Act 2008 (Killing or injuring Police dogs), the penalty for anyone who intentionally kills, maims, wounds, or otherwise injures a police dog without lawful authority or reasonable excuse faces up to 2 years in jail, or a fine of up to $15,000, or both.

This penalty is lenient compared to other jurisdictions. For killing a police dog the following penalties for imprisonment are in place: United States up to 10 years, Canada up to 5 years, and South Australia up to 5 years.