 is under a person’s care, he or she must be 18 to validly consent to sex with that person. An offence of having sexual contact with a child between the ages of 13 and 16 can be defended by evidence that the child consented to the sexual act if the person was not more than three years older than the child at the time of the sexual act.
Sexual penetration
Sexual penetration without consent is an offence with a maximum penalty of 14 years imprisonment (Section 325).
Sexual penetration includes the penetration of the vagina, anus or mouth by a penis or the penetration of the vagina or anus by another body part or by an object manipulated by another person. It also includes oral sex (Section 319).
If sexual penetration without consent is committed in circumstances of aggravation, a maximum penalty of 20 years imprisonment applies. Circumstances of aggravation provided under Section 319 are:
- The accused is or pretends to be armed with a weapon;
- The accused is in the company of another person;
- The accused does bodily harm to another person;
- The accused acted in a way that substantially degraded or humiliated the victim;
- The accused made threats to kill the victim;
- The victim was under 16 years of age.
Indecent assault
Indecent assault carries a maximum penalty of 5 years imprisonment (Section 323). An assault is indecent if it involves touching an indecent part of the body (breasts, genitals or anus) or if it was committed in indecent circumstances.
Mistaken belief in consent
If a person charged with an offence against Section 325, 323 or 327 held an honest and reasonable belief that the victim was consenting, the accused can argue the defence of Mistake of Fact (Section 24). To succeed as a defence, the mistaken belief must have been based on reasonable grounds.
Sexual coercion
It is an offence under Section 327 to coerce a person to engage in sexual behaviour. This offence carries a maximum of 14 years imprisonment. Examples of coerced sexual behaviour are forcing a person to have sex with another person, forcing a person to masturbate or to have carnal knowledge of an animal.
Incest
It is an offence under Section 329 to have sexual penetration with a person who the accused knows is his or her lineal relative. This includes parents, siblings, children, grandchildren and grandparents. It includes half-siblings and relationships established by adoption.
Sexual offences against incapable persons
A suite of offences also exists relating to sexual behaviour with incapable persons. An incapable person is a person who is so mentally impaired as to be incapable of understanding the nature of the act or of guarding him or her self against sexual exploitation (Section 330).
It is an offence to sexually penetrate an incapable person knowing them to be incapable or to procure, incite or encourage such a person to sexual behaviour. It is an offence to indecently deal with an incapable person knowing them to be such a person or to procure, incite or encourage them to do an indecent act, or to indecently record such a person.
However, it is a defence to any of these offences if the accused was at the time of the relevant act, married to the incapable person.
Sexual servitude
It is an offence to conduct a business that involves another person being compelled to provide sexual services (Section 331C). This offence carries a maximum of 14 years imprisonment, or if the person is a child or an incapable person, 20 years imprisonment.
It is an offence to offer a person employment knowing that the employment will involve offering commercial sexual services without disclosing this knowledge to the person. This offence carries a maximum penalty of 7 years imprisonment where the victim is an adult and 20 years where the victim is a child or an incapable person.
If you need legal help please contact Go To Court Lawyers.1. Can you provide me with a list of your past 10 clients?
There’s no better advertising than word of mouth, and no better way to find out the truth as to how your agent will treat you once he’s got your signature. Isn’t it amazing then that a lot of agents don’t allow you to contact their past clients, I wonder why?
If an agent will allow you to have access to the names and numbers of his past clients and those people have had good experiences, fantastic! You are half way to having a happy sale.
2. How many properties did you sell last year?
Good agents sell more properties and you need to know the facts. This will give you a good indication as to how successful the agent is at actually selling a house! You should also ask how many of their sales were in your immediate local area to give you an idea as to how well they know your area.
3. How many buyers are you working with at the moment?
It is important that your agent knows of buyers who are interested in buying a property similar to yours. Not only will this make it easier for the agent to sell your property, it gives you an indication as to how successful they are. If the agent has a lot of buyers, then it is generally because they are selling lots of properties.
It is also important that the agent knows exactly who their buyers are and that their office has good systems in place to track them. Buyer enquiries into the office are golden; they should be tracked to ensure that every buyer is looked after. A good follow up question is to ask is how they contact their buyers to notify them of a new listing. If there is no system in place, you need to question the agents’ ability to find someone to buy your house.
4. May I see an example of your market campaign/advertising?
This is a must to see. If the look of their advertising doesn’t attract your eye, chances are it will not attract the eyes of buyers. Make sure you like what they do with their advertising and the places they advertise. Will they advertise your property online? Research shows that 90% of buyers use the web to look for their new home, so it is important that your agent promotes your property online as well as offline.
5. How often will I get feedback?
It is important that your agent has a system in place to ensure that you will know what is going on every step of the way during the sale process.
Ensure your agent will contact you immediately after each inspection and update you regularly to discuss the success of your marketing campaign, and the interest of potential buyers.
In a survey of home sellers, lack of feedback consistently comes up as the No.1 complaint against their agent. If an agent can’t communicate effectively with you, can you be sure they are communicating with prospective purchasers?
6. How many sales people are in your team?
Does the agent have suitable backup and support? Who do I contact if you are not available?
You are really trying to establish whether the agent is someone with whom you want to deal with. A small team with the personal touch or a large team with a number of sales people available to show your home. What would you prefer?
7. What type of training programs do you and your team attend?
To be a top performer in any industry you need to undergo regular training to enhance your skills. Ask them what courses they have attended recently. Ask them what they learnt on that course. A major problem within the industry is that it attracts agents who are great at the talk, but can’t really walk the walk.
8. What charges will I incur if the house doesn’t sell?
 This reduces the risk to you and can make the agent work harder to sell your property (as they don’t get paid unless they sell it).
On the flip side, marketing and promotion is an important element in the sale process. Sometimes you will need to contribute some or all of the marketing costs associated with your campaign. These costs are generally required to be paid regardless of whether your house sells.
Be aware that some agent contracts will require you to pay certain expenses even if your house isn’t sold. Read your contract carefully and identify all the costs (if any) that you will incur if your home does not sell and seek legal advice before you sign any contract. If an agent tries to get you to sign an agreement and skims over this area – run and run fast!
You need to find out upfront how you can terminate your agreement with your agent. You want to make sure that if the agent does not sell your home within a reasonable time frame, you can terminate the agreement and appoint another agent (or sell it yourself) without any penalty or restrictions.
It is a good idea to ask a conveyancer/solicitor to review your agreement (prior to you signing it) to ensure you get the best advice around this issue.
10. When is your office open?
An office needs to be open when the buyers are looking. Buyers aren’t looking just between 9am and 5pm. Do they close at 5pm or 7pm? What are their weekend hours? Do they have a website that promotes your property and attracts buyers and sellers when the office is closed?
This question is really going to give you an idea of whether the vendor is getting keen to sell. Generally, most vendors get keener to sell their home the longer it is on the market. Once a property has been for sale for 6-8 weeks, many vendors (and agents) are starting to think that their selling price is too high. If the agent tells you that the property has been on the market for at least 6 weeks, ask them if the price has been already reduced or whether the vendor would consider a reduced price.
Also, another bonus for you is that if the agents contract to sell the property is nearing its end they might be getting extra keen to sell it.