Legal experts have warned against national consent definitions to address low sexual assault conviction rates and have instead called for better survivor support services and significant investment in education and the justice system.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
or signup to continue reading
A parliamentary committee examining Australia's consent laws is considering whether harmonising laws within an affirmative consent model, which requires people to take reasonable steps to establish consent before sexual activity, would improve outcomes for assault survivors.
But president of Australia's peak legal body Luke Murphy said there was limited evidence to suggest consistent consent definitions would result in higher reporting and conviction rates of sexual assault.
"We encourage the pursuit of other measures such as strengthening protections for complainants and victim survivors," he said.
"These changes are more tangibly directed to the experience of giving evidence in the courtroom and may have a greater impact than sexual consent definitions.
"The criminal justice system is, on its own, a poor vehicle to achieve social change."
The Law Council of Australia supported a communicative consent model, which still required positive consent from both people involved, but did not have the extra element from the affirmative model which would require an accused person to show what they did to establish consent.
The council also clarified its submission, which classified young people and those with a disability as vulnerable groups who could be criminalised by changes to legal definitions.
Mr Murphy said that section of the submission should have been read alongside the council's call for greater levels of community education about what consent was for complainants and accused people.
"We are emphasising the particular need to have targeted awareness and education programs for the vulnerable groups because of their disproportionate representation in this space," he said.
The president said the council was not suggesting affirmative consent laws would be unfair to young men, as boys between the ages of 15 and 19 had the highest rate of sexual offending in Australia.
"Our concern is that the design of any legislative model must be to ensure that it is good law and effective law because if it's not, then we do a disservice to those that we are giving false hope to and that's worse," Mr Murphy said.
"If we're going to implement changes we must give careful consideration to what is required to achieve positive outcomes in those vulnerable groups."
1800 RESPECT (1800 737 732)
National Sexual Abuse and Redress Support Service 1800 211 028
Lifeline 13 11 14
Australian Associated Press
