[via Bettina Arndt]

The NSW Law Reform Commission is currently considering significant changes to State law regarding sexual consent: among the matters submitted for consideration is to shift to an "enthusiastic consent" model (see Hannah Wallen's take on this) in all matters of sexual relations in place of the "reasonable doubt" standard that has held for centuries.

For those interested, there is a list of submissions to the NSW LRC (Law Reform Commission) here. It's long and I haven't read them all, but to give you a flavour one from The Feminist Legal Clinic of NSW says, in part:

We agree with the suggestions in these submissions in relation to shifting the evidential burden regarding consent onto the defendant, providing clarification that acquiescence is insufficient to constitute consent and removing the possibility of a defendant escaping conviction purely based on a defence of “mistaken belief”.

IOW people, it's proposed (and not just by the Feminist Legal Clinic but by a majority of the submissions) that if a young bloke made a genuine mistake in misinterpreting an (unclear?) expression, or genuinely mistook some physical action or inaction on the part of the sex partner, his innocence is no excuse.

I am yet to undertake the NSW LRC survey, so I cannot comment on its content (I will update afterwards). Nonetheless, need it be said that once the principle of "presumption of innocence" is diluted or negated, it's all but impossible to reinstate it.

If you're a resident of NSW or Australian, please do the survey.