Published by Geoff Harrison | 16 June 2024
Incest is an offence that requires the authority of the Attorney-General before proceedings are commended as per s78F of the Crimes Act 1900 ('the Act'). The offence of incest is having sexual intercourse with a 'close family member' who is or above the age of 16 years of age (as defined by s78A(2) of the Act) ....the maximum penalty being 8 years imprisonment. It is to be noted that consent is not a defence to this charge (s78C(2)), the only defence being that the person did not know that the person was related (s78C(1)).
Other Sources:
Cases:
Extracted Legislation:
CRIMES ACT 1900 - SECT 72B
Definitions
(1) In this Subdivision--
"authorised carer" has the same meaning as in the Children and Young Persons (Care and Protection) Act 1998 .
"close family member" has the same meaning as in section 78A.
"parent" means biological parent or adoptive parent.
"young person" means a person who is of or above the age of 16 years and under the age of 18 years.
(2) In this Subdivision, a reference to performing work at a school or performing work for an organisation is a reference to performing work at the school or for the organisation, whether as an employee (whether paid or unpaid), contractor, volunteer or otherwise.
Note : For the purposes of this Subdivision, a person is under the authority of another person if the person is in the care, or under the supervision or authority, of the other person (see section 61H(2)).
CRIMES ACT 1900 - SECT 78A
Incest
(1) Any person who has sexual intercourse with a close family member who is of or above the age of 16 years is liable to imprisonment for 8 years.
(1A) A person does not commit an offence under this section if the person is of or above the age of 16 years and under the age of 18 years at the time the offence is alleged to have been committed and the other person to whom the charge relates is the person's parent or grandparent.
(2) For the purposes of this section, a
"close family member" is a parent, son, daughter, sibling (including a half-brother or half-sister), grandparent or grandchild, being such a family member from birth.
CRIMES ACT 1900 - SECT 78B
Incest attempts
Any person who attempts to commit an offence under section 78A is liable to imprisonment for two years.
CRIMES ACT 1900 - SECT 78C
Defences
(1) It shall be a sufficient defence to a charge under section 78A or section 78B that the person charged did not know that the person with whom the offence is alleged to have been committed was related to him or her, as alleged.
(2) It shall be no defence to a charge under section 78A or section 78B that the person with whom the offence is alleged to have been committed consented thereto.
CRIMES ACT 1900 - SECT 78F
Sanction of Attorney-General
(1) No prosecution for an offence under sections 78A or 78B shall be commenced without the sanction of the Attorney-General.
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