Generally, consent means getting permission to do something. This is important in many different types of everyday situations. For example, you should ask for someone’s permission before borrowing something or before posting a photo of them on social media. Consent to sexual experiences is no different.
Legally, consent means free agreement. A person does not freely agree if they are pressured or threatened, if they are asleep or unconscious, or if they do not say or do anything to communicate consent. We explain more about what consent does, and doesn’t, look like below!
You must give and get consent before doing any sort of sexual activity with another person, not just penetrative sex. Consent is important for all people, of all sexualities and in all kinds of relationships.
You need to make sure you have consent each time you do a sexual activity with another person. Remember:
Want to find out more about what consent means, and what it looks like? Check out these resources:
Consent must be ongoing and mutual. You need to have consent before doing any kind of sexual activity with or in front of another person. This includes kissing or touching someone, exposing your genitals or masturbating, oral or penetrative sex, using sex toys. sexting or watching porn.
All people involved in a sexual activity need to consent, and make sure everyone else consents. The law says that a person must take reasonable steps to make sure another person is consenting. It is especially important for the person initiating sexual activity to make sure the other person (or people) consents.
Consent must be continually given and received. Do not assume that someone has consented, even if you are in a relationship with that person, or they have consented to something in the past.
How do you know if someone is consenting? You can:
It is best to think of consent as an enthusiastic yes.
You can change your mind and withdraw consent at any time, by saying something like ‘Stop, I’m not feeling this anymore’ or by doing something like pushing the other person away, or your can stop responding or shake your head.
If sexual activity continues after consent has been withdrawn, the sexual activity is occurring without consent and is a crime.
The law says a person does not freely agree or consent to a sexual activity if they:
A person cannot consent to sexual activity if they are under the age of consent.
There is also no consent if a person says or does something to communicate that a condom must be used for sexual intercourse and the other person does not use a condom or tampers with or removes the condom. This is a crime known as stealthing.
The age of consent is the age at which the law says a person can agree to sexual activity. If you are under the age of consent, the law says that you cannot legally agree to sexual activity, and any person who does something sexual with you has broken the law.
You might have a defence if you are a similar age and everyone wanted to have sex.
In Tasmania, the age of consent is 17. If you are 17 years old and above, you can legally have sex (or do another sexual activity) with another person who is 17 years or older as long as you both agree to it, with one exception. If you are under 18, it is a crime for a person in a position of authority, like a teacher, coach, employer, carer or religious leader, to have sexual intercourse with you.
If you are under 12 years of age you can never consent to a sexual activity.
If someone involved in sexual activity is aged 12 to 16 years, there are defences that may apply:
If you are 24 or under and you have any questions about these laws, you can contact us for free and confidential legal advice here.
It is a crime to sext with someone under 18, including sending and receiving sexual texts, images or videos of young people who are under 18, even if it is consensual. You can find out more on our page on sexting.
Sending a photo or video of a person doing a sexual act or showing their breasts, genitals or anal region without their consent is image-based abuse, and it can be a crime. You can find out more on our page on image-based abuse.
If you feel that someone has done something sexual to you without your consent, this is not okay, and it may be sexual abuse. You can find out more information about sexual abuse here.
You can contact us here for free and confidential legal advice, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.
If you are worried that you have done something sexual to another person without their consent it is a good idea to talk to someone about what has happened and get legal advice. There are some exceptions that may apply to the law requiring you to say or do something to check if the other person consented.
You can contact us here for free and confidential legal advice, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.
You can also contact the services listed below to talk about anything relating to sex including contraception and safe sex and healthy and respectful relationships. They are not the police or a government department, and you do not have to give them your name and details if you do not want to.
Family Planning Tasmania is a sexual and reproductive health clinic and education service for all Tasmanians. They have clinics in Glenorchy, Burnie and Launceston as well as outreach locations.
You can book an appointment here or call these clinics Monday – Friday 9.00am to 5.30pm:
The Link Youth Health Service provides free and confidential health and wellbeing services for young people aged 12-25 including free condoms and sexual health checks and you can call them on 03 6231 2927.
1800RESPECT provides free counselling, information and support for people who have experienced sexual assault or domestic and family violence. You can call them on 1800 737 732, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.
If you have a problem or a question, you can send it to us today and we can provide you with free advice, information and referrals to help solve your problem. Just click on the button below.
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