The Attorney General tabled in Parliament on 15 May 2024 the Project 113 Sexual Offences - Final Report (PDF, 4.07MB)
The Final Report examines issues and makes recommendations to modernise and improve Western Australia’s sexual offence laws. It reviews matters such as the definition of consent, the circumstances in which there is no consent, the defence of mistaken belief in consent, the directions given by judges to juries in sexual offence trials, Western Australia’s substantive sexual offences and the maximum penalties for sexual offences.
Note: After this report was tabled, the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions for Western Australia has advised the Commission that it’s quote in the main paragraph [4.403] on page 117 of the Final Report is derived from an article written by Jonathan Crowe, 'Fraud and consent in Australian rape law' (2014) 38 Crim U 236, 244.
Statistical Analysis Report
The Commission engaged criminologist Associate Professor Joe Clare to prepare a report analysing District Court 2019 sexual offence trial data and answering various questions to assist with the preparation of the Final Report. Where relevant, these findings from Associate Professor Clare’s Statistical Analysis Report (PDF, 595.29KB) were incorporated into the body of the Final Report. Associate Professor Clare’s full report is available on the Commission’s website.
Note: The Final Report should be read in conjunction with the Discussion Paper Volume 1 and Volume 2, as it does not repeat its comprehensive summary of all of the issues it addresses.
