What do the affirmative sexual consent law reforms passed in NSW and proposed in Victoria mean for each state?

Major sexual consent reforms have passed through the New South Wales parliament this week and have also been proposed in Victoria. The affirmative consent reforms will change the laws around sexual consent to better deliver justice to victims and survivors of sexual assault.

The changes come after law reform commission reviews and a campaign by advocates such as Saxon Mullins from Rape and Sexual Assault Research and Advocacy.

The Victorian government will introduce a requirement for affirmative consent. This means a person must take active steps to confirm they have received consent for sexual activity or risk committing a crime.

Previously, Victoria required communicative consent between parties, but the office of public prosecutions was concerned about how it had been applied.

The legislation will be introduced in 2022.

It means:

(a) a person does not consent to sexual activity unless they said or did something to communicate consent; and

It will also provide education programs for judges, legal practitioners and police on how to best navigate victims of sexual assault through the judicial process.

In Europe, a recent Amnesty International analysis found only 12 out of 31 countries had consent-based definitions of rape. This includes the UK, Ireland, Sweden, Denmark, Iceland, Germany, Belgium, Luxembourg, Malta, Greece, Croatia and Cyprus.