A law change that allows the courts to come down harder on people who assault emergency service staff should be extended to other public-sector workers on the frontline, the Public Service Association says.
Amendments to the Sentencing Act passed last week mean assaults on police and ambulance officers, firefighters, doctors, nurses and other emergency personnel will be considered as aggravating factors when judges make sentencing decisions.
The PSA welcomed the changes, saying it would provide some comfort to people delivering valuable emergency services, but the union wanted it to cover other workers at risk, national secretary Brenda Pilott said.
There was evidence of increasing violence against such workers and the PSA had argued strongly in a submission to the law and order select committee for the act to cover them.
"Public-sector workers in a range of front-line occupations, including ACC, Customs and social workers, are regularly subject to assault. We hear stories of staff being bitten, kicked, pushed against walls and having various projectiles thrown at them," she said.
Fishery officers were routinely subject to violence and threats as they tried to prevent poaching and illegal fishing. Health and safety advisers, especially those involved in biosecurity, had reported significant levels of assaults, she said.
"These are people in high-risk occupations that put themselves in danger for the good of New Zealand and the PSA hoped that the act would have acknowledged their contribution to society," she said.
NZN