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Attorney-General Mark Speakman announced yesterday that he’d seek to reform NSW consent laws to include “enthusiastic” or “affirmative” consent.
The announcement was met with widespread praise by survivors like Saxon Mullins who told
SBS News the proposed changes were an important step into changing the way that we talk about sexual violence.”
But two experts told
The Feed that while they welcome the proposed changes, they remain ‘cautiously optimistic’ about how they’d work in practice.
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Dr Julia Quilter has already examined the three major legislative reforms in the sexual offences space; in 1981, 1989 and 2007.
She said while the reforms proposed by the Attorney-General have the potential to create positive change, we won’t know their impact until they’re tested in courtrooms.
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People accused of sexual assault will need to prove they took steps to obtain consent, as part of a major overhaul of sexual consent laws in New South Wales.
NSW Attorney General Mark Speakman announced the reforms on Tuesday that he says will strengthen and simplify laws in the state and protect victim-survivors.
That includes adopting the so-called affirmative consent model, which means a person does not consent to sexual activity until they say or do something to communicate it.
It also means an accused person s belief in consent will not be reasonable unless they said or did something to ascertain consent from their sexual partners.
She said she is also holding a meeting with the federal government soon . This is not political to me. I m speaking to whoever I can and need to in order to get this out there as soon as possible, she said.
The former Sydney school student, now studying in London, started the petition calling for a more comprehensive sex education curriculum several months ago. Since then, she has received around 6,200 anonymous testimonies from current and former private school students across the country.
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The operation makes victims aware of the NSW Police Sexual Assault Reporting Option (SARO) - an online questionnaire enabling them to share their story without formally reporting the matter to police. It does not launch a criminal investigation but keeps the information detailed on record if the alleged perpetrator or perpetrators are reported for similar offences in future.
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Experts and survivors of sexual assault are calling on the government to revise what they’ve described as a “confusing” and “deeply troubling” website designed to teach school-aged children about sexual consent.
The Good Society website features over 350 resources and was created as part of a $3.7 million sexual education campaign.
While sections of the site note “everyone has the right to say no, at any time”, other passages appear to contradict this message.
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Sexual assault activist Chanel Contos shared two of these apparent contradictions on Instagram, including, “it’s okay to persuade someone to change their mind” and “sometimes we go along with what other people want and that’s okay”.
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The federal government has removed two videos from its new online resource about sexual consent and respectful relationships following community and stakeholder backlash.
The suite of videos, digital stories, podcasts and other materials on The Good Society website was launched last week, as part of the government s $7.8 million Respect Matters program.
But the resource has faced significant backlash from rape prevention advocates, women s rights groups and politicians for its simplistic and often confusing messaging around sex and consent.
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Dr Michele Bruniges - secretary of the Department of Education, Skills and Employment - said on Tuesday that in response to community and stakeholder feedback, two videos have been removed .