*Age Of Consent & Legal Sexual Activity for the State of
From the website of Queer
Radio, the gay & lesbian
Community Radio program on 4ZZZ
fm102.1 in
Government legislation references…
The
- The debate on the
original Bill which enacted the “decriminalisation” of homosexuality in
(1) The introduction of the Criminal Code
And Another Act Amendment Bill on
(2) The heated debate and eventual 3rd reading
(passing) of that Bill on
- As per http://www.legislation.qld.gov.au/LEGISLTN/CURRENT/C/CriminLwSexOA78.pdf
(page 15):
Criminal Code and
Another Act Amendment Act 1990 No. 93:
date of assent 7 December 1990
commenced 19 January 1991 (proc pubd
gaz 19 January 1991 p 174)
· The Current Criminal Code with amendments as reprinted and in force on 1st December 2008 is at: http://www.legislation.qld.gov.au/LEGISLTN/CURRENT/C/CriminCode.pdf
In that current version
of the Criminal Code you’ll find:
(1) The definition of the
minimum age of consent as 16 years in Chapter 22 “OFFENCES AGAINST
MORALITY” Section 215, pages 108-109.
(2)
The Sections defining “sodomy” as
illegal for any person under 18 years of age in Chapter 22 “OFFENCES AGAINST MORALITY” Section 208, on pages
105-106.
·
Guidelines
for how the Sodomy Law is prosecuted in our courts is contained in the:
QUEENSLAND
SUPREME AND DISTRICT COURT BENCHBOOK on pages
148, 149 and 150.
There are also valuable references in a January 1991 report from the Australian Institute of Criminology on
Homosexual Law Reform in
http://www.aic.gov.au/publications/tandi/ti29.pdf.
Report 29 was authored by Melissa Bull, Susan Pinto and Paul Wilson (Professor Paul Wilson is currently
Director of the Centre for Applied Psychology and Criminology at Bond
University, Gold Coast, Queensland) The authors quote professionals who
wrote in 1990 to Queensland Premier Wayne Goss stating that it is imperative
that age of consent should be gender neutral, and that there be no distinction
made in the legality of any consenting sexual activity. The following is a complete excerpt from page 9:
“Age of
Consent
There should be no
difference in the 'Age of Consent' for males and females in relation to
heterosexual or homosexual acts. The Queensland Psychologists for Social Justice indicated in their
submission to the Parliamentary Criminal Justice Committee (Gallois, North
& Raphael 1990) that research, and clinical experience support the
proposition that young males start sexual activity earlier and are more likely
to have more sexual partners than girls at any given age through the teenage
years.
Thus to legislate differently on the 'Age of Consent' for
homosexual acts ignores the realities of sexual expression and sexual identity
formation. In a letter to the Premier of Queensland, the Honourable Wayne Goss,
several
...that any distinction made in age of consent for homosexual
activity and the age of consent for heterosexual activities would be
discriminatory and prejudicial...The dangers exist in that any differentiation,
in age of consent....further reinforces negative social constructions and
public opinion. Such legislative differentiation will ensure that young
homosexuals in
The recommendations regarding 'Age of Consent' finally
proposed by the Queensland Parliamentary Criminal Justice Committee concur with
these views.”
Last updated 10th February 2010