South Australian Current Acts South Australian Current Acts (1) A person who uses
or threatens unlawful violence towards another and whose conduct is such as
would cause a person of reasonable firmness present at the scene to fear for
his or her personal safety is guilty of affray.
Maximum penalty:
(a) for
a basic offence—imprisonment for 3 years;
(b) for
an aggravated offence—imprisonment for 5 years.
(2) If 2 or more
persons use or threaten the unlawful violence, it is the conduct of them taken
together that must be considered for the purposes of subsection (1).
(3) For the purposes
of this section, a threat cannot be made by the use of words alone.
(4) No person of
reasonable firmness need actually be, or be likely to be, present at the
scene.
(5) Affray may be
committed in private as well as in public places.
(6) A person is guilty
of affray only if the person intends to use or threaten violence or is aware
that his or her conduct may be violent or threaten violence.
(7) An offence of
affray may be charged on complaint and be prosecuted and dealt with by the
Magistrates Court as a summary offence but, if the Court determines that a
person found guilty of such an offence should be sentenced to a term of
imprisonment exceeding 2 years, the Court must commit the person to the
District Court for sentence.
(8) For the avoidance
of doubt, a person who is convicted of the offence of affray that has been
prosecuted and dealt with as a summary offence in accordance with
subsection (7) is, despite that fact, taken to have been convicted of an
indictable offence for the purposes of any Act or law.