Shadow Minister for Women Tanya Plibersek says states and territories should follow New South Wales’ lead in reducing the “retraumatising impact” of litigation for sexual assault victims.
NSW Attorney-General Mark Speakman announced on Tuesday the government would adopt all of the Law Reform Commission's recommendations regarding sexual consent.
These recommendations include the ability for judges to exercise discretion in issuing directives to juries that remove stereotypes surrounding the nature of consent.
Nevertheless, Ms Plibersek says that law reform must also be accompanied by changes in cultural attitudes towards relationships.
“I think it’s very important that all states and territories are looking at laws like this but also how we reduce the retraumatising impact of going through courts for victims of sexual assault,” she told Sky News.
“But law reform is only part of the answer, of course; we need to change our culture.
“One of the things that rea
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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.
While the new bill is yet to be tabled, Speakman said he supported the commission’s 44 recommendations. He said the definition of consent would change to “something that s given voluntarily and freely by agreement”. That it can be withdrawn at any time … consent to one sexual activity is not consent to any other sexual activity and that self-intoxication of the accused is not an excuse for failing to form a reasonable belief,” he told the ABC.
Saxon Mullins from Rape and Sexual Assault Research and Advocacy said that she was pleased that this day had come but that apart from the reforming the law, which was “a significant step”, more focus was needed to ensure “all survivors’ voices are heard and their justice is sought, whatever way that is for them”.
Sex consent to be law in historic legal overhaul NSW will adopt an affirmative consent model following fierce public debate over existing laws surrounding sexual assault.
Crime by Ava Benny-Morrison
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Subscriber only Juries will be empowered to convict people accused of rape unless they have taken active steps to obtain consent for sex under a historic overhaul of NSW s sexual assault laws. The state will adopt an affirmative consent model, Attorney-General Mark Speakman will announce on Tuesday, following fierce public debate over existing laws. The changes will tackle a sticking point in many sexual assault trials - the reasonable grounds test.