*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
(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
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 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.
(2) The Sections defining “sodomy” as
illegal for any person under 18 years of age in Chapter
22 “OFFENCES AGAINST MORALITY” Section 208.
·
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/current%20series/tandi/21-40/tandi29.aspx
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 4th
November 2010