greggerypeccary wrote on Jul 19
th, 2014 at 4:32pm:
freediver wrote on Jul 19
th, 2014 at 4:26pm:
Is incest between adults illegal in Australia?
Not as far as I know.
The
Human Rights (Sexual Conduct) Act 1994 (Cwth) keeps most Darwinians and Tasmanians out of gaol.
Quote:In all jurisdictions except New South Wales, incest is sexual intercourse between a "lineal ancestor" and a "lineal descendant".
In New South Wales, incest takes place between "close family members", which are "parent, son, daughter, sibling (including a half-brother or half-sister), grandparent or grandchild, being such a family member from birth".
Incest generally only applies in cases where a participant is aged 16 or over (the age of consent in that state); and where the participant is aged between 10 and 16 years of age an older participant would generally be charged with sexual intercourse with a child under the age of 16, while cases in which a participant is under 10 an older participant would generally be charged with sexual intercourse with a child under the age of 10.
In Queensland, unlawful incest includes sexual intercourse between an uncle or aunt with their niece or nephew, although here its application is curtailed by the effect of the federal Marriage Act 1961, as the Queensland Criminal Code states that the crime of incest does not apply to “persons who are lawfully married or entitled to be lawfully married”. Thus it is not incest for a niece aged 16 or over to engage in sexual intercourse with their uncles and a nephew aged 16 or over may engage in sexual intercourse with their aunts, but same-sex uncle-nephew and aunt-niece sexual intercourse may be unlawful even in the case of consenting adults, as the Marriage Act does not allow same-sex marriage.
Quote:In no Australian state or territory is consent a defense to incest. The maximum penalty for incest varies: eight years imprisonment in New South Wales; 10 years imprisonment in South Australia; 20 years imprisonment in Western Australia and the Australian Capital Territory; 25 years imprisonment in the Northern Territory, Victoria and Tasmania; and life imprisonment in Queensland. After one conviction for incest, the offender's name is placed on the Sex Offenders Register for 15 years, while any offender with two or more convictions for incest has their name placed on the Register for the remainder of their life.