New consent laws will come into effect in Queensland today, which includes secretly removing or tampering with a condom during sex - known as 'stealthing'
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00:00Well, this is a major overhaul to sexual violence laws here in Queensland, and what they effectively
00:08look like is they've introduced a new affirmative consent model.
00:12So what that means is that consent needs to be agreed upon by both parties, and these
00:16new laws have also specifically outlined and clarified situations where consent cannot
00:22be provided, and that includes situations where there's intimidation, coercion, as well
00:26as abuse.
00:27So, as you mentioned, there's also been the criminalisation of the act of stealthing.
00:32Now, stealthing is where a person either removes or tampers with a condom during sexual activity,
00:39so the offence has now been explicitly recognised as rape and carries a maximum penalty of life
00:46imprisonment.
00:47Now, it's brought Queensland in line with other states and territories like Victoria,
00:51New South Wales, the ACT, Tasmania, as well as South Australia, where they all recognise
00:57stealthing as illegal.
00:59But these reforms have largely been introduced due to the 188 recommendations that were handed
01:04down by the Women's Safety and Justice Taskforce, who actually delivered their landmark report
01:09nearly two years ago.
01:11So all the recommendations have either been supported or supported in principle by the
01:15Queensland Government, but according to data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics,
01:21Queensland and New South Wales have had the most significant increases in reported sexual
01:25assaults.
01:26This is something that's been welcomed by advocates, but experts say they remain cautiously
01:31optimistic as they wait to see how these new laws play out in the judiciary process.
01:37There's also experts who say that they are welcoming these laws, but there is still lots
01:41more that needs to be done in the education space to further reduce sexual violence here
01:45in Queensland.
01:46Ari, thank you.
01:49And if this story has raised any issues for you, you can get help by calling the National
01:53Sexual Assault and Family Violence Counselling Helpline on 1800RESPECT.
01:58That number is 1800 737 732.