SUMMARY OFFENCES ACT 1953 - SECT 21R

SUMMARY OFFENCES ACT 1953 - SECT 21R

21R—Performance of certain procedures on minors prohibited

        (1)         A person must not perform a body modification procedure on a minor.

Maximum penalty: $5 000 or imprisonment for 12 months.

        (2)         A person must not perform—

            (a)         an intimate body piercing on a minor; or

            (b)         any other body piercing on a minor without the consent of the minor's guardian given in accordance with section 21S.

Maximum penalty: $5 000 or imprisonment for 12 months.

        (3)         Subsection (2)(b) does not apply if the minor on whom the body piercing is to be performed is at least 16 years old.

        (4)         It is a defence to a charge of an offence against this section to prove that—

            (a)         the defendant, or some person acting on behalf of the defendant, required the minor, or another person, to produce evidence of a kind required by the regulations of—

                  (i)         his or her age; or

                  (ii)         the consent of his or her guardian to the carrying out of the relevant procedure,

as the case requires; and

            (b)         the minor, or another person, made a false statement, or produced false evidence in response to that requirement; and

            (c)         in consequence, the defendant reasonably believed that—

                  (i)         the minor was of or above the requisite age; or

                  (ii)         the guardian consented to the carrying out of the relevant procedure,

as the case requires.

        (5)         A person who seeks to rely on the defence in subsection (4) must, in order to rely on the defence, produce the identifying details, or a copy, of the evidence offered at the time of the alleged offence.