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Summary Offences Amendment
(Tattooing and Body Piercing) Bill 2008
Introduction Print
EXPLANATORY MEMORANDUM
Clause Notes
Clause 1 states the purpose of the Bill, which is to amend the Summary
Offences Act 1966 to:
· prohibit scarification, tongue splitting, beading and branding
on persons under the age of 18 years.
· to increase the maximum penalty for the offence of tattooing
or performing a like process on a person under the age of
18 years.
· make it an offence for a body piercer to perform an intimate
body piercing on a person under the age of 18 years.
· make it an offence for a body piercer to perform a non-
intimate body piercing on a person under the age of 16 years
without consent from a parent or guardian.
Clause 2 provides that the Bill comes into operation on a day or days to be
proclaimed, or, if it is not proclaimed, on 1 January 2009.
Clause 3 makes two amendments to the existing offence of tattooing or
performing a like process on a person under the age of 18 years.
Firstly, it provides that scarification, tongue splitting, branding
and beading are like processes for the purposes of the existing
offence. This will prohibit the conduct of those procedures on
persons under the age of 18 years. It also includes definitions of
scarification, tongue splitting, branding and beading.
Secondly, it increases the maximum penalty for the offence of
tattooing or performing a like process on a person under the age
of 18 years from 5 penalty units to 60 penalty units.
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Clause 4 inserts a new Division 6 into Part I of the Summary Offences
Act 1966, comprised of new sections 43, 43A, 44 and 44A.
New Division 6 deals with body piercing.
New section 43(1) inserts a number of definitions used
throughout Division 6. Key definitions include:
· body piercer, which means a person of or over the age of
16 years who carries on, or is employed in, a body piercing
business, or performs body piercing for remuneration,
including payment in kind. This definition reflects the Bill's
focus on the conduct of commercial body piercing studios
and operators.
· body piercing, which means the piercing of the body for the
insertion of an object.
· evidence of age document, which includes a driver licence
or permit, a proof of age card issued under the Liquor
Control Reform Act 1998 or similar interstate law, a
passport or document approved by the Minister. Evidence of
age document is relevant to the defences to the new body
piercing offences.
· registered health practitioner, registered student and
regulated health service, which have the same meanings as
in the Health Professions Registration Act 2005.
These definitions are relevant to the exemption to the new
body piercing offences for health professionals.
New section 43A outlines the application of new Division 6 of
Part I of the Summary Offences Act 1966. The new body
piercing offences will not apply to legitimate health services
provided in good faith by registered health practitioners.
Furthermore, consent to a non-intimate body piercing given in
accordance with new Division 6 does not provide a defence to, or
affect liability for, any other criminal offence. For example, if a
particular body piercing procedure would otherwise constitute an
assault, the fact that consent was given by a parent or guardian
would provide no defence.
New section 44 makes it an offence for a body piercer to conduct
an intimate piercing on a person under the age of 18 years.
This applies to body piercing on a person's genitalia, anal region,
perineum or nipples. The penalty for this offence is 60 penalty
units.
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New section 44(3) provides a defence to the intimate body
piercing offence where the defendant proves that he or she had
seen an evidence of age document indicating that the person was
aged 18 years or above. Similar defences are included in
offences relating to the sale of alcohol or tobacco to persons aged
under 18 years.
New section 44(4) makes it an offence for a body piercer to
subvert the new intimate body piercing offence, by employing a
person aged under 16 years to perform illegal procedures. This is
necessary because body piercer is defined as a person aged
16 years or more. Again, the penalty for this offence is
60 penalty units.
New section 44A makes it an offence for a body piercer to
perform a non-intimate body piercing on a person under the age
of 16 years, without the consent of the young person and his or
her parent or guardian. Consent must be written and given in
person. The penalty for this offence is 20 penalty units.
New section 44A(3) provides a defence to the non-intimate body
piercing offence where the defendant proves that he or she had
seen an evidence of age document indicating that the person was
aged 16 years or above. Similar defences are included in
offences relating to the sale of alcohol or tobacco to persons
under the age of 18 years.
New section 44A(4) makes it an offence for a body piercer to
subvert the new non-intimate body piercing offence, by
employing a person under the age of 16 years to perform illegal
procedures. This is necessary because body piercer is defined as
a person aged 16 years or more. Again, the penalty for this
offence is 20 penalty units.
Clause 5 is a transitional provision which provides that the existing
tattooing offence in the Summary Offences Act 1966 will apply
to conduct up until the commencement of section 3(1) of the Act.
Conduct occurring after such commencement will be dealt with
on the basis of the amended version of that offence. This is
necessary to ensure the prospective application of the criminal
law.
Clause 6 provides for the automatic repeal of this amending Act on
1 January 2010. The repeal of this Act does not affect in any way
the operation of the amendments made by this Act (see
section 15(1) of the Interpretation of Legislation Act 1984).
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