We’re considering renaming South Australia the wowser state. Soon after its Attorney General revealed that he would scotch the chance to finally introduce an R18+ rating for games in this country, we’ve learned that the SA government is introducing new legislation to stop what it calls “indecent filming”.
Indecent filming in this context means the filming of “private acts” without a person’s consent or knowledge. It also includes upskirting with mobile phones and hidden cameras in bedrooms and bathrooms. A maximum penalty of up to $10,000 and two years in jail applies.
It’s actually not an awful piece of legislation. It gives people reasonable recourse against perverts and peeping toms, though some of its clauses might be open to interpretation and abuse.
The legislation says this (and these only apply if the person does not consent to being filmed):
indecent filming means filming of—
(a) another person in a state of undress in circumstances in which a reasonable person would expect to be afforded privacy; or
(b) another person engaged in a private act in circumstances in which a reasonable person would expect to be afforded privacy; or
(c) another person’s private region in circumstances in which a reasonable person would not expect that the person’s private region might be filmed;
private act means—
(a) a sexual act of a kind not ordinarily done in public; or
(b) using a toilet