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No. 522
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The Bill introduces new offences of using a 'carriage service'(1) (the internet, emails, mobile and fixed telephones, faxes, radio and TV) for the purposes of counselling or inciting suicide, or promoting or providing instruction on a particular method of suicide. Possession or supply etc of material that is intended to be used for such offences is also itself an offence.
There are three elements to the new subsection 474.29A(1) offence, all of which must be met. They are:
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the use of a carriage service to access, cause to be transmitted, make available, publish or distribute material
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the material must directly or indirectly counsel or incite suicide, and
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the relevant person must intend either to use to the material themselves to counsel or incite suicide, or that it be used by another person to counsel or incite suicide.
The new subsection 474.29A(2) offence essentially has similar elements, except the material must promote, or provide instructions on, a particular method of committing suicide. The maximum penalty for both offences is 1,000 penalty units ($110,000) for a person or five times that for a corporation.
Due to the application of section 5.6 of the Criminal Code, a person need only be ‘reckless’ regarding the second element above (ie whether material directly or indirectly counsels or incites suicide or promotes or provides instruction of a particular method of committing suicide).(10) Neither the second reading speech nor the Explanatory Memorandum provides guidance on the situations in which material would be considered to ‘indirectly’ promote or provide instruction.
The third proposed offence in the Bill is contained in new subsection 474.29B(1). Again, this has three elements that must be met:
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the possession, control, production, supply or obtaining of material
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the material directly or indirectly counsels or incites suicide, or promotes or provides instructions of a particular method of committing suicide.
http://www.aph.gov.au/library/pubs/bd/2004-05/05bd133.htm
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