Archive Article

Age of consent

text

Research by UNSW on the impact of the unequal age of consent on young men is available at www.glrl.org.au

The Lobby fights discrimination against lesbians and gay men and their children. You can be part of this fight.

If you would like to help or make a donation to our work, please contact us.

You don’t have to be experienced to get involved. You just have to want to make a difference.

In NSW, the law does not treat everybody the same
The age of consent for gay men in NSW is 18 while heterosexuals and lesbians are able to consent to sex at 16. There are a number of other differences in how the law deals with sex between men. This is a leftover from when sex between men was illegal.
NSW has the most draconian laws of any Australian State or Territory on this issue.

There are 2 complete sets of provisions in the criminal law in NSW dealing with the sexual activity of young people. The first set is gender neutral and criminalises sexual activity with young people under 16. They apply to sexual activity with both boys and girls and protect each equally. The second apply only to sexual activity between males.
Current laws criminalise the sexual activities of 16 and 17 year old gay men. They do not protect them.