Protecting the Anonymity of the Victims of Sexual Crimes: Tasmania Law Reform Institute Issues Paper No 18

This project arose out of a Tasmanian case in which a twelve-year-old girl was prostituted by her mother and her mother's male friend. The fact that only one of the girl's clients was prosecuted gave rise to controversy and criticism of both the Director of Public Prosecution's decision not to prosecute and the law relating to the crime of sexual intercourse with a young person. The Attorney-General responded to criticisms of the law by referring to the Institute (by letter dated 30 September 2010) a review of the defence of mistake as to age for the crime of sexual intercourse with a young person, together with any other legal issues raised by the case. Board member, Mr Craig Mackie also requested that, as part of the wider project, the Institute look at the operation of s 194k of the Evidence Act 2001 (Tas). This reference was supported by the Commissioner for Children (Tasmania). The Institute released an Issues Paper in May 2012, Sexual Offences Against Young People, Issues Paper No 17. This paper considers the related project, the operation of s 194K of the Evidence Act 2001 and the law prohibiting the publication of information which identifies a complainant in a sexual offence case.