Where a police officer proposes to conduct an interview of a person whom they suspect, or have reasonable grounds to suspect, has committed an indictable offence, that police officer is obliged to comply with legislative provisions outlining the recording of an interview [see Summary Offences Act 1953 (SA) s 74D]. A police interview is defined as a conversation, part of a conversation, or a series of conversations [see Summary Offences Act 1953 (SA) s 74C]. Whether a series of conversations is considered an interview depends on the circumstances, proximity and subject matter [see R v Day (2002) 82 SASR 85; R v Flaherty (2003) 86 SASR 300; [2002] SASC 287; and R v B,KM [2009] SADC 47 for examples of the underlying principles].

The police must record all interviews of people suspected of committing an indictable offence through audio visual record, or if that is not reasonably practicable, an audio record, or if neither are reasonably practicable, in writing [see ss 74D(1), 74D(2) and 74D(3) Summary Offences Act 1953 (SA)]. Where the interview is recorded in writing, it must as soon as practicable be read to the suspected person and an audio visual record must be made of this process [see s 74D(1)(c)]. The suspect must be given an opportunity to correct any errors in the record of interview [see ss 74D(1)(c)(iii), 74D(1)(c)(iv), 74D(1)(c)(v) and 74D(1)(c)(vi)].

When a vulnerable witness is being interviewed as a witness to a serious offence against the person (such as murder, manslaughter, criminal neglect, a sexual offence, abduction, blackmail, unlawful threats to kill, and some other offences [see s 74EA]), police have an obligation to make an audio visual recording of the interview [s 74EB]. Vulnerable witness in this instance refers to a child of or under the age of 14 years or a person with a disability that adversely affects the person’s capacity to give a coherent account of their experiences and answer questions rationally [s 74EA(1)]. A vulnerable witness also includes a person who is being interviewed as the victim of an alleged child sexual offence (a sexual offence committed in relation to a person under 18 years of age) [s 74EA(1a)].

Police must allow the person or their legal representative to view the audio visual record and they are able to obtain a copy of the audio record part of it, but not the visual part [see s74D(4) Summary Offences Act 1953 (SA)].