Queensland Consolidated Acts

CRIMINAL LAW (HISTORICAL HOMOSEXUAL CONVICTIONS EXPUNGEMENT) ACT 2017 - SECT 19

19 Criteria for public morality offence

(1) This section applies if a conviction or charge the subject of the application is for a public morality offence.

(2) The chief executive may decide to expunge the conviction or charge for the offence only if the chief executive is satisfied, on the balance of probabilities, that—

(a) the offence involved homosexual activity; and

(b) the act or omission constituting the offence—

(i) would not constitute an offence under the law of Queensland if it were done by the eligible person at the time the application was made; or

(ii) meets the criteria in subsection (2A) .

(2A) For subsection (2) (b) (ii) , the criteria are—

(a) the act or omission—

(i) was done, or allegedly done, in a public place; and

(ii) would not constitute an offence under the law of Queensland if it were done at the time the application was made, other than in a public place; and

(b) a person, other than a person engaging in the act or omission, would not have been able to observe the act or omission without taking abnormal or unusual action.

Example of taking abnormal or unusual action—

looking under the door of a cubicle in a public toilet

(3) In considering the criteria mentioned in subsection (2) or (2A) , the chief executive must have regard to—

(a) any public record containing information about the conviction or charge the chief executive has received from a criminal record holder; and

(b) any information or document the chief executive has received under section 16 about the application.