In March 2023, the Commonwealth Government conducted an inquiry into the sexual consent laws across the different jurisdictions in Australia.
QAI’s submission outlined our long-standing concern about Section 216 of the Queensland Criminal Code which criminalises sexual relations with a person with an ‘impairment of the mind’, even when that person has capacity to consent to the sexual activity. Our submission sought to highlight the inequitable way in which some laws relating to sexual consent can inappropriately infringe the fundamental human rights of people with a disability.
QAI urged the Committee to consider alternative solutions that uphold the rights of people with disability to express their sexuality, while still protecting against the risk of sexual exploitation of people with impaired decision-making capacity.
Read our submission here: