NSW may follow the lead of Victoria and Tasmania in amending sexual assault laws to make it clearer that saying or doing nothing does not amount to consent.
In a centrepiece reform, it proposed changes to bring NSW into line with Tasmania and Victoria, where the criminal law states explicitly that a person does not consent to sex if they do not “say or do anything” to “communicate” or “indicate” consent.
The new law would recognise that “a person who ‘freezes’ out of fear and is unable to communicate does not consent”, the commission said.
Source: Plan unveiled to ‘strengthen’ sexual consent laws in NSW