ACR101 Lecture Notes - Lecture 2: Crimes Act 1958, Handling Stolen Goods, European Australians
ACR101 Week Two
CRIME
The definition of crime changes over time and varies from place to place. Notion there is a
right ad rog. There is a grey area i etee lak ad hite. “oeties it’s oious
and can be inexplicable as to why. Crime is often cultural and political.
CRIME CHANGES OVER TIME.
Used to be legal but now criminalised:
• Some drugs (heroin was legally available on prescription until 1953)
• Smoking on public transport (smoking in enclosed spaces criminalised 2007)
• Rape in marriage (criminalisation only began in 1981 with NSW the first state to
legislate)
• Operating a tanning salon (criminalised in 2014)
Used to be criminalised but now legal:
• Mixed bathing (men & women) was only permitted from the 1940s
• Consensual homosexual sex (illegal until 1980s [Tas not until 1997])
• In QLD and WA, it was illegal to drink under 21 until 1970 and 1974 respectively
• In Victoria, marijuana for medical use
CRIME IS AN INTENTIONAL ACT OR OMISSION IN VIOLATION OF CRIMINAL LAW
(STATUTORY OR CASE LAW), COMMITTED WITHOUT DEFENCE OR JUSTIFICATION, AD
“ANCTIONED BY THE “TATE… – Tappan, 1947: 100)
Guilty mind + guilty act = crime.
CRIME CHANGES FROM PLACE TO PLACE:
Examples of activities that are considered crime in Australia but not a crime elsewhere:
• Recreational marijuana use (now decriminalised in the Netherlands, across much of
South America, in multiple states of the US etc)
• Owning and carrying semi-automatic guns (legal in US but very restricted in
Australia)
Differences across Australia states:
• Safe injecting rooms
• Fireworks for domestic use
WHAT IS CRIME?
Crime is not simply what causes harm. Some things are harmful but not necessarily criminal.
E.g. industrial pollution, alcohol consumption. Some things are also criminal but you may
not necessarily consider them harmful e.g. illegal downloads, trolling or free speech,
assisting suicide etc.
"Crime is an intentional act or omission in violation of criminal law (Statutory or case law),
oitted ithout defee or justifiatio, ad satioed y the state…" (Tappa,
1947:100)
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Document Summary
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