New Queensland Sex Consent Law ‘Not Fit for Purpose’: Critics
Queensland Parliament has passed new sexual consent laws that require people to consent or reject a sexual act verbally. This means that silence or intoxication can no longer imply agreement was given for sexual relations.
Under the new law, which had bipartisan support, consent can also be withdrawn by words or actions during the act of sexual relations.
However, alleged perpetrators can still use mistaking consent such as by there not being a verbal rejection as a criminal defence against sexual assault in some circumstances.
The Queensland Greens unsuccessfully tried to move last-minute amendments to mandate affirmative consent and remove the mistake of fact defence.
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Qld to examine women in criminal justice system
By Naomi Neilson|15 March 2021
A task force comprising barristers, principal law officers and other legal experts will examine the experiences of women across the criminal justice system, led by the former Lawyer X inquiry commissioner Margaret McMurdo AC.
Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk said that while the state has made “significant progress” towards preventing and responding to domestic, family and sexual violence, “we know there is more work to be done”. This included last month’s announcement to legislate coercive control under the task force’s initiative.
Ms Palaszczuk said the task force would continue to examine the issues faced by women when accessing the criminal justice system to improve the state’s responses.
JOINT STATEMENT
The Premier has announced a wide-ranging review into the experience of women across the criminal justice system to be undertaken by the Women’s Safety and Justice taskforce, led by Margaret McMurdo AC.
Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk said last month’s announcement to legislate against coercive control was the first part of work being done by the taskforce that is also going to examine issues faced by women when accessing the criminal justice system.
“We know that women face barriers when reporting against domestic, family and sexual violence,” the Premier said.
“And while we’ve made significant progress to prevent and respond to domestic, family and sexual violence in Queensland, we know there is more work to be done.