A Bill for an Act to amend the Criminal Code Act 1995, and for related purposes
The Parliament of Australia enacts:
1 Short title
This Act may be cited as the Criminal Code Amendment (Misrepresentation of Age to a Minor) Act 2013.
2 Commencement
This Act commences on the day after this Act receives the Royal Assent.
3 Object
The object of this Act is to protect minors from predatory online behaviour by adults.
4 Schedule(s)
Each Act that is specified in a Schedule to this Act is amended or repealed as set out in the applicable items in the Schedule concerned, and any other item in a Schedule to this Act has effect according to its terms.
Schedule 1—Amendment of the Criminal Code Act 1995
1 At the end of Division 474 of the Criminal Code
Add:
Subdivision H—Offences relating to use of carriage service with intention of misrepresenting age
474.40 Misrepresenting age to a person under 16 years of age
(1) A person (the sender) commits an offence if:
(a) the sender uses a carriage service to transmit a communication to another person (the recipient); and
(b) the sender does this with the intention of misrepresenting his or her age; and
(c) the sender does this for the purpose of encouraging the recipient to meet physically with the sender (or any other person); and
(d) the recipient is someone who is, or who the sender believes to be, under 16 years of age; and
(e) the sender is at least 18 years of age.
Penalty: Imprisonment for 5 years.
(2) A person (the sender) commits an offence if:
(a) the sender uses a carriage service to transmit a communication to another person (the recipient); and
(b) the sender does this with the intention of misrepresenting his or her age; and
(c) the sender does this with the intention of committing an offence, other than an offence under this section; and
(d) the recipient is someone who is, or who the sender believes to be, under 16 years of age; and
(e) the sender is at least 18 years of age.
Penalty: Imprisonment for 8 years.
474.41 Provisions relating to offences against section 474.40
Age‑related issues
(1) For the purposes of section 474.40, evidence that the recipient was represented to the sender as being under or of a particular age is, in the absence of evidence to the contrary, proof that the sender believed the recipient to be under or of that age.
(2) In determining for the purposes of section 474.40 how old a person is or was at a particular time, a jury or court may treat any of the following as admissible evidence:
(a) the person’s appearance;
(b) medical or other scientific opinion;
(c) a document that is or appears to be an official or medical record, whether created in Australia or in a country outside Australia;
(d) a document that is or appears to be a copy of such a record.
(3) Subsection (2) does not make any other kind of evidence inadmissible, and does not affect a prosecutor’s duty to do all he or she can to adduce the best possible evidence for determining the question.
(4) If, on a trial for an offence against section 474.40, evidence may be treated as admissible because of subsection (2), the court must warn the jury (if any) that it must be satisfied beyond reasonable doubt in determining the question.
Fictitious recipient
(5) For the purposes of section 474.40, it does not matter that the recipient to whom the sender believes the sender is transmitting the communication is a fictitious person represented to the sender as a real person.
474.42 Defences to offences against section 474.40
(1) It is a defence to a prosecution for an offence against section 474.40 that the defendant believed at the time the communication was transmitted that the recipient was not under 18 years of age.
Note: A defendant bears an evidential burden in relation to the matter in this section, see subsection 13.3(3).
(2) In determining whether the defendant had the belief referred to in subsection (1), the trier of fact may take into account whether the alleged belief was reasonable in the circumstances.
(3) A person is not criminally responsible for an offence against section 474.40 if:
(a) the person is, at the time of the offence, a law enforcement officer, or an intelligence or security officer, acting in the course of his or her duties; and
(b) the conduct of the person is reasonable in the circumstances for the purpose of performing that duty.
Note: A defendant bears an evidential burden in relation to the matter in this subsection, see subsection 13.3(3).