The Crimes Act 1958 (Vic) is the principal criminal statute in Victoria, codifying a wide range of offences, including; homicide, sexual and violent crimes, property offences, and various forms of abuse, while incorporating contemporary principles of consent, mental health defences, and protections for vulnerable persons.
In 2021, the applicant, a transgender woman, downloaded the app Giggle for Girls (the App), which is marketed as a “digital women-only safe space.” To register, users were required to upload a selfie, which was assessed by third-party AI software to determine gender based on appearance. The applicant was approved and used the App for eight months before being blocked, following a manual review of her selfie by a company employee.
Commonwealth Director of Public Prosecution v Jan, Victorian County Court (2024) is significant as it marks Australia’s first conviction for the offence of forced marriage. The defendant, a member of the Hazara Islamic community residing in Shepparton, Victoria, was convicted and sentenced for causing her 20-year-old daughter to enter into a forced marriage.
In Kiss v R [2021] NSWCCA 158, the New South Wales Court of Criminal Appeal considered an appeal against a sentence by the applicant, who had been convicted of three counts of sexual intercourse without consent and one count of intentionally choking or strangling the complainant. At the time of the offences, the applicant and the complainant were in a relationship. On appeal, the applicant argued that the offences were objectively less serious because they occurred in the context of an ongoing consensual relationship.
In Clubb v Edwards; Preston v Avery (2019), the High Court of Australia considered whether "safe access zone" laws in Victoria and Tasmania (which prohibit certain communications and protests about abortion within 150 metres of abortion clinics) impermissibly burden the implied freedom of political communication under the Australian Constitution.
The Termination of Pregnancy Act 2018 (Queensland) was enacted to decriminalize abortion in Queensland. The purpose of the Act is to enable reasonable safe access to termination. The Act permits abortion on request up to 22 weeks of gestation. After 22 weeks, a medical practitioner must consult a second medical practitioner before performing a termination.
The Termination of Pregnancy Act 2021 aims to modernize and decriminalize abortion services in South Australia, ensuring access to safe and legal abortion within a framework that respects the rights and needs of pregnant people. Under this Act, abortion is available on request up to 22 weeks and 6 days of gestation, with abortions beyond this point requiring the review by two medical practitioners.
Bosanac v. Commissioner of Taxation, decided by the High Court of Australia, concerned the ownership of a residential property in Perth, Western Australia. The husband and wife lived in the property from 2006 until 2015, despite separating in 2012–2013. Although the property was paid for using funds from a joint loan account and secured against properties owned separately by the couple, it was registered solely in the wife's name.
The applicant is a non-profit organisation with the primary objective of ensuring that women and pregnant people who experience hardship or distress with a pregnancy receive counselling, information, material aid, and referral about pregnancy options, including abortion, adoption and parenting. Almost half of the applicant’s clients have reported experiencing domestic violence, sexual assault or reproductive coercion, predominantly perpetrated by men.
The Holmes Rule, also known as the Holmes Test, states that a suit arises under the law that creates the cause of action.
