The ACT government has been forced to retract significant claims about the success of its affirmative consent laws after a major data error was discovered in an official review.
Flawed Data Leads to Withdrawn Claims
A statutory review of the territory's new consent laws, prepared by the Justice and Community Safety Directorate and released in September 2025, contained serious inaccuracies that grossly overstated reporting and charging rates for sexual offences.
The original review incorrectly stated the number of charges laid had grown 20 times in the final three months of 2024 compared to periods under previous laws. It suggested the Affirmative Consent Amendment Act "may be one of several factors that have contributed to that increase."
However, an updated version of the review, tabled in the ACT Legislative Assembly on Thursday, December 4, 2025, has abandoned all analytical claims about reporting, charging, and conviction rates linked to the legislative change.
Corrected Review Presents Different Picture
The corrected document states the available data cannot conclusively determine what impact, if any, the affirmative consent laws have had on reporting or charging rates.
"The relationship between legislative change and social behaviour is complex," the revised review notes. It explains that significant public attention around such laws can itself change behaviour, independent of the legislative change.
Key claims deleted from the corrected report include:
- The assertion that reporting rates had increased since May 2022 and that the new laws "may be one of several factors" encouraging more victim-survivors to come forward.
- Analysis suggesting a possible slight increase in conviction rates and a slight decrease in not guilty findings.
- The observation that attrition rates—comparing charges laid to reports made—appeared to have fallen.
The directorate has blamed an "inadvertent error" for the mistakes in the initial review.
Core Finding on Law's Clarity Remains
Despite the data correction, the review's fundamental assessment of the law itself remains unchanged. Both versions conclude the ACT's statutory definition of consent—based on free and voluntary agreement—is "generally clear, nuanced and flexible."
The review, which considered submissions from 37 community and legal groups, found "no clear evidence at this stage that further changes are warranted." It recommends continued monitoring of how consent is withdrawn and the presumptions of non-consent are applied.
The data issues did not affect the analysis of these public submissions.
The backdrop to this review includes a separate 2024 report on ACT Policing's handling of sexual offences, which found a "failure to properly and appropriately investigate" such crimes. That review led police to reopen cases, lay new charges, and identify over 160 cases for re-investigation.
If this story raises issues for you, support is available from the Canberra Rape Crisis Centre at 6247 2525, 1800RESPECT (1800 737 732) or Lifeline (13 11 14).
