Consent

Consent is extremely important when you engaging in sexual activity, and it is important to understand what consent is.

There are also some situations where, because of a person’s age, they cannot consent. This is called the age of consent.

What is Consent?

In Tasmania, consent means free agreement. A person cannot freely agree if they are drunk, drugged, unconscious or asleep. This means that if someone becomes unconscious during sexual activity that they consented to, that activity must not continue. It is not consent if a person agrees because they are forced, threatened or tricked into sexual activity. A person can also withdraw their consent at any time. It does not matter if they consented to begin with and they have already started engaging in sexual activity.

There are also some situations where, because of a person’s age, they cannot consent. This is called the age of consent.

Age of Consent in Tasmania

If you’re 17 years or older, you can consent to have sex with anyone else 17 years or older. as long as the other person is not in a position of authority – like a carer, coach, teacher, employer, or anybody else with authority over you.

“Sexual intercourse” means the penetration to the least degree of the vagina, genitalia, anus, or mouth by the penis, another body part (such as hands), or an object controlled by the other person, and includes continuing that sexual intercourse after such penetration.

It is a defence if it can be proved that the older person believed on reasonable grounds that the other person was years of age or older.

Any person having a sexual relationship with a person under the age of 17 that they are not married to may be found guilty of “maintaining a sexual relationship with a young person” and could be sent to prison.

If you are convicted of these types of crimes you can also be put on the ‘Community Protection Offender Register Tasmania’, sometimes referred to as the ‘Sex Offender Register’.