Yes, some provisions to the Crimes Act 1900 (NSW) have changed.

And in addition to the Crimes Act 1990 (NSW), the other laws that have been affected are the Child Protection (Offenders Registration) Act 2000 (NSW), the Criminal Legislation Amendment (Child Sexual Abuse) Act 2018 and the Child Protection (Working with Children) Act 2012 (NSW).

What are these changes?

There are two new offences under the Crimes Act:

• section 43B - failure to reduce or remove risk of child becoming victim of child abuse
• section 316A - concealing child abuse offence

There is also a new offence of grooming an adult to procure a child under his/her care for an unlawful sexual activity.

There are changes to the offence of grooming a child.

The offence of indecent assault will be replaced by a new offence of ‘sexual touching’.

The offence of the act of indecency will be replaced by new offences of ‘sexual act’ and ‘sexual touching’.

The changed provisions to the Crimes Act 1900 (NSW) came into effect from 27 June 2018 and are now in force. More information can be found through the NSW legislation internet site.

Published: 3 October 2018