1 00:00:01,080 --> 00:00:04,000 Speaker 1: Good morning and welcome to the Daily OS. It's Wednesday, 2 00:00:04,080 --> 00:00:07,200 Speaker 1: the twenty sixth of May. My name is Sam Kazlowski 3 00:00:07,240 --> 00:00:10,320 Speaker 1: and helping me make sense of today's news is Zara Seidler. 4 00:00:10,880 --> 00:00:15,360 Speaker 1: Making news today, a COVID update for Victoria, a coup 5 00:00:15,360 --> 00:00:20,079 Speaker 1: and Marley, some good news about wallabies, and a chat. 6 00:00:19,920 --> 00:00:24,360 Speaker 2: About consent reform in New South Wales. Here's today's Daily Digest. 7 00:00:25,400 --> 00:00:28,280 Speaker 1: When we were last updated by Victorian Health officials, there 8 00:00:28,280 --> 00:00:32,080 Speaker 1: were nine locally acquired COVID nineteen cases recorded in Victoria, 9 00:00:32,600 --> 00:00:36,479 Speaker 1: and that's after an additional five were reported yesterday. The 10 00:00:36,560 --> 00:00:40,360 Speaker 1: Victorian government has now introduced restrictions for Greater Melbourne, including 11 00:00:40,400 --> 00:00:44,120 Speaker 1: mandatory indoor face masks and limitation on private gatherings and 12 00:00:44,200 --> 00:00:48,760 Speaker 1: public gatherings. Genomic sequencing has confirmed all of these cases 13 00:00:48,800 --> 00:00:53,440 Speaker 1: originated from the South Australian hotel quarantine outbreak. Here's Victorian 14 00:00:53,560 --> 00:00:57,560 Speaker 1: Chief Health Officer, Professor Brett Sutton speaking on ABC Radio. 15 00:00:57,840 --> 00:01:00,360 Speaker 3: So we're going to high levels of restrictions obviously, the 16 00:01:00,400 --> 00:01:04,880 Speaker 3: private gatherings down to five, the public gatherings down to thirty, masks, 17 00:01:04,880 --> 00:01:10,280 Speaker 3: syndoors everywhere. Their sensible and proportionate restrictions to put into 18 00:01:10,280 --> 00:01:12,480 Speaker 3: place and they will mitigate the risk of transmission. 19 00:01:12,680 --> 00:01:14,800 Speaker 2: It's a bit of a throwback to be hearing from 20 00:01:14,800 --> 00:01:16,840 Speaker 2: Brett Sudden every day and for us to be on 21 00:01:16,920 --> 00:01:20,120 Speaker 2: the edge of our chairs listening out for Melbourne numbers. 22 00:01:20,120 --> 00:01:22,800 Speaker 2: So we're really thinking of all our Victorian friends who 23 00:01:22,880 --> 00:01:26,480 Speaker 2: are all two over this. I think moving along to 24 00:01:26,520 --> 00:01:29,520 Speaker 2: the next story, and this one concerns Britney Higgins, who 25 00:01:29,800 --> 00:01:33,800 Speaker 2: made an allegation against a former Liberal staffer. Scott Morrison's 26 00:01:33,880 --> 00:01:36,840 Speaker 2: chief of staff, John Cunkle, has cleared the Prime Minister's 27 00:01:36,880 --> 00:01:41,920 Speaker 2: media team of backgrounding journalists against Britney Higgins's partner, saying 28 00:01:41,959 --> 00:01:44,240 Speaker 2: there was no evidence to support the allegation. And I 29 00:01:44,240 --> 00:01:46,360 Speaker 2: can see Sam trying to jump in here and I'll 30 00:01:46,360 --> 00:01:50,960 Speaker 2: explain what backgrounding actually is. When someone backgrounds or provides 31 00:01:51,000 --> 00:01:55,120 Speaker 2: information on background, it refers to information given to a journalist, 32 00:01:55,600 --> 00:01:58,160 Speaker 2: but without that journalist having to name or quote the 33 00:01:58,200 --> 00:02:01,960 Speaker 2: source directly. So Brittanyhiggins accused the Prime Minister's office of 34 00:02:02,040 --> 00:02:05,720 Speaker 2: doing this with negative information about her partner, who previously 35 00:02:05,760 --> 00:02:06,720 Speaker 2: worked in politics. 36 00:02:07,480 --> 00:02:10,640 Speaker 1: Over to Africa and the President, Prime Minister and Defense 37 00:02:10,720 --> 00:02:14,480 Speaker 1: Minister of Mali have been detained by military officers. This 38 00:02:14,520 --> 00:02:17,720 Speaker 1: follows a previous military coup in August of twenty twenty 39 00:02:17,880 --> 00:02:21,320 Speaker 1: where President at the time Ibrahim Bubukar Keaita was removed 40 00:02:21,400 --> 00:02:24,600 Speaker 1: from office. There are fears that the latest development could 41 00:02:24,600 --> 00:02:28,200 Speaker 1: further deepen the instability in Mali, where violent extremist groups 42 00:02:28,240 --> 00:02:31,400 Speaker 1: linked to Al Kada and Islamic State control large areas 43 00:02:31,480 --> 00:02:33,560 Speaker 1: of the desert North And to. 44 00:02:33,560 --> 00:02:36,960 Speaker 2: Some Wednesday good news, bridled nail tail wallabies are no 45 00:02:37,040 --> 00:02:38,440 Speaker 2: longer on the brink of extinction. 46 00:02:38,520 --> 00:02:39,160 Speaker 1: Oh thank god. 47 00:02:39,720 --> 00:02:43,760 Speaker 2: After conservation scientists from unsw took the wallabies and raised 48 00:02:43,800 --> 00:02:47,400 Speaker 2: them in a protected shelter. The strategy used by scientists, 49 00:02:47,480 --> 00:02:51,640 Speaker 2: it's called head starting, involves protecting endangered animals during their 50 00:02:51,639 --> 00:02:54,600 Speaker 2: most vulnerable period. This approach has seen the population of 51 00:02:54,600 --> 00:02:57,800 Speaker 2: wallabies more than double in three years. It honestly just 52 00:02:57,800 --> 00:03:04,359 Speaker 2: sounds like a zoo created a zoo. Yesterday we had 53 00:03:04,360 --> 00:03:06,800 Speaker 2: the new South Wales Attorney General get up and announce 54 00:03:06,840 --> 00:03:09,920 Speaker 2: something pretty big. He announced that there was going to 55 00:03:09,960 --> 00:03:13,240 Speaker 2: be major reform to the state's consent laws. Let's have 56 00:03:13,240 --> 00:03:16,000 Speaker 2: a quick listen to what the Attorney General said yesterday. 57 00:03:16,639 --> 00:03:18,800 Speaker 4: He today with Saxon Mullins. I've just announced the New 58 00:03:18,840 --> 00:03:22,720 Speaker 4: South Wales government's response to the Law Reform Commission's recommendations 59 00:03:22,720 --> 00:03:25,600 Speaker 4: on consent law. Here in New south Wales, we're adopting 60 00:03:25,760 --> 00:03:29,040 Speaker 4: all forty four recommendations and going one step further to 61 00:03:29,080 --> 00:03:32,040 Speaker 4: adopt an affirmative model of consent in New South Wales. 62 00:03:32,320 --> 00:03:36,200 Speaker 1: It's also there to address the significant underreporting of sexual assault, 63 00:03:36,200 --> 00:03:38,920 Speaker 1: an issue that has really come into the limelight in 64 00:03:38,960 --> 00:03:42,240 Speaker 1: twenty twenty one throughout the news cycle. So Zara, what 65 00:03:42,600 --> 00:03:45,000 Speaker 1: exactly has changed after yesterday. 66 00:03:45,200 --> 00:03:47,720 Speaker 2: I'll first start off with the fact that these reforms 67 00:03:47,760 --> 00:03:51,080 Speaker 2: didn't just occur in isolation. There were actually a response 68 00:03:51,120 --> 00:03:53,680 Speaker 2: to the recommendations made in a New south Wales Law 69 00:03:53,720 --> 00:03:57,080 Speaker 2: Reform Commission report, and they've really been spearheaded by a 70 00:03:57,200 --> 00:03:59,760 Speaker 2: number of survivors in the New South Wales community and 71 00:04:00,160 --> 00:04:03,040 Speaker 2: from one of those after. But this biggest change is 72 00:04:03,240 --> 00:04:06,760 Speaker 2: to affirmative consent. So the government set out two key reforms. 73 00:04:07,320 --> 00:04:10,040 Speaker 2: The first is that a person doesn't consent to sexual 74 00:04:10,080 --> 00:04:13,880 Speaker 2: activity unless they said or did something to communicate consent. 75 00:04:14,480 --> 00:04:17,839 Speaker 2: The second was that an accused person's belief in consent 76 00:04:17,920 --> 00:04:21,680 Speaker 2: wouldn't be reasonable in the circumstances unless they had said 77 00:04:21,880 --> 00:04:25,720 Speaker 2: or did something to ascertain consent. Therefore, someone not resisting 78 00:04:25,920 --> 00:04:28,520 Speaker 2: or not actively saying that they wanted to engage in 79 00:04:28,520 --> 00:04:31,240 Speaker 2: that sexual activity was no longer going to cut it. 80 00:04:31,760 --> 00:04:34,120 Speaker 2: That consent had to be affirmative and it had to 81 00:04:34,160 --> 00:04:34,880 Speaker 2: be actionable. 82 00:04:35,320 --> 00:04:39,039 Speaker 1: There's been a real effort here to clarify and make 83 00:04:39,279 --> 00:04:44,440 Speaker 1: certain ideas around sexual consent crystal clear. For example, Mark 84 00:04:44,480 --> 00:04:47,560 Speaker 1: Speakman made a point yesterday of saying that consent can 85 00:04:47,600 --> 00:04:50,080 Speaker 1: be withdrawn at any time, and that that is going 86 00:04:50,120 --> 00:04:51,919 Speaker 1: to be a key feature of the laws. 87 00:04:52,120 --> 00:04:55,080 Speaker 2: Yeah, and apart from that, it was that consent has 88 00:04:55,120 --> 00:04:59,120 Speaker 2: to be given voluntarily and freely by agreement. The definition 89 00:04:59,160 --> 00:05:01,840 Speaker 2: will also be expec to include the fact that consent 90 00:05:01,960 --> 00:05:04,960 Speaker 2: for one sexual activity is not consent for any other 91 00:05:05,000 --> 00:05:08,599 Speaker 2: sexual activities, and that this consent does not just expand 92 00:05:08,640 --> 00:05:12,039 Speaker 2: to all activities that might occur in a given encounter. 93 00:05:12,400 --> 00:05:14,520 Speaker 2: I think this is a really big thing because we've 94 00:05:14,520 --> 00:05:18,000 Speaker 2: spoken a lot about the lack of consent education in schools, 95 00:05:18,360 --> 00:05:20,480 Speaker 2: and so often it's boiled down to the fact that 96 00:05:20,520 --> 00:05:23,000 Speaker 2: there's not a clear definition that's been set out, at 97 00:05:23,120 --> 00:05:27,080 Speaker 2: least in legislation about what consent is and what consent 98 00:05:27,279 --> 00:05:29,680 Speaker 2: is not. And I have a friend that goes into 99 00:05:29,720 --> 00:05:32,040 Speaker 2: schools and teaches this, and these are the things that 100 00:05:32,080 --> 00:05:35,440 Speaker 2: she's been identifying for months on end, and it's really 101 00:05:35,640 --> 00:05:39,200 Speaker 2: really great to see the government reflecting this in legislation. 102 00:05:39,680 --> 00:05:41,640 Speaker 2: All that said, though, and I do want to make 103 00:05:41,640 --> 00:05:44,920 Speaker 2: this point, this isn't in our law yet. It still 104 00:05:44,960 --> 00:05:46,800 Speaker 2: needs to go to Parliament and be voted on as 105 00:05:46,839 --> 00:05:47,799 Speaker 2: a piece of legislation. 106 00:05:48,440 --> 00:05:51,200 Speaker 1: There was some interesting commentary as well around the role 107 00:05:51,279 --> 00:05:54,720 Speaker 1: of judges and the ability for judges to give instructions 108 00:05:54,720 --> 00:05:56,839 Speaker 1: to jury during sexual assault trials. 109 00:05:57,240 --> 00:06:00,000 Speaker 2: So our in house legal counsel take me through. 110 00:06:00,600 --> 00:06:04,880 Speaker 1: So basically there's quite limited abilities for judges to talk 111 00:06:05,040 --> 00:06:08,120 Speaker 1: in trials at all. In sentencing they a obviously not 112 00:06:08,160 --> 00:06:11,080 Speaker 1: make good judges. We would not make good judges. So 113 00:06:11,800 --> 00:06:15,600 Speaker 1: these reforms are proposing to give judges an expanded mandate 114 00:06:15,640 --> 00:06:17,880 Speaker 1: to talk to the jury about a number of different 115 00:06:18,000 --> 00:06:21,120 Speaker 1: talking points. Here are some of them. One that it 116 00:06:21,160 --> 00:06:25,119 Speaker 1: can't be assumed that the victim not displaying emotion means 117 00:06:25,120 --> 00:06:27,760 Speaker 1: that they aren't or are telling the truth. That it 118 00:06:27,800 --> 00:06:30,160 Speaker 1: can't be assumed by a jury from a lack of 119 00:06:30,160 --> 00:06:33,600 Speaker 1: injury or violence, that there has been consent, and that 120 00:06:33,640 --> 00:06:36,240 Speaker 1: a victim's clothing at the time of the offense does 121 00:06:36,279 --> 00:06:37,720 Speaker 1: not determine consent. 122 00:06:38,279 --> 00:06:41,159 Speaker 2: Would this happen often that judges are given new directives 123 00:06:41,240 --> 00:06:42,320 Speaker 2: for trials coming up. 124 00:06:42,720 --> 00:06:45,599 Speaker 1: There's a big body of guidance given to judges in 125 00:06:45,680 --> 00:06:48,599 Speaker 1: all different areas of crime that guides them on what 126 00:06:48,640 --> 00:06:51,760 Speaker 1: they can and can't say. But the guidelines around sexual 127 00:06:51,800 --> 00:06:55,359 Speaker 1: assault cases has been notoriously thin, so it's good to 128 00:06:55,440 --> 00:06:58,320 Speaker 1: see these being beefed out a little and judges being 129 00:06:58,320 --> 00:07:02,479 Speaker 1: allowed to essentially maintain a just courtroom through stepping in 130 00:07:02,520 --> 00:07:03,159 Speaker 1: when they need to. 131 00:07:03,560 --> 00:07:05,200 Speaker 2: We just wanted to wrap up with a clip of 132 00:07:05,279 --> 00:07:09,080 Speaker 2: Saxon Mullins, who is a survivor of sexual assault and 133 00:07:09,279 --> 00:07:13,320 Speaker 2: who really spearheaded this initiative alongside the government. Take a 134 00:07:13,360 --> 00:07:15,200 Speaker 2: listen to what she had to say yesterday. 135 00:07:15,440 --> 00:07:18,120 Speaker 4: I'm really happy with what the government has done here. 136 00:07:18,480 --> 00:07:21,040 Speaker 4: I think going that one step beyond is just super 137 00:07:21,040 --> 00:07:23,440 Speaker 4: important so that we actually have affirmative. 138 00:07:22,920 --> 00:07:25,120 Speaker 2: Consent in New South Wales and are really leading the 139 00:07:25,120 --> 00:07:26,560 Speaker 2: way in Australian consent law. 140 00:07:27,080 --> 00:07:29,760 Speaker 1: We'll keep you updated as these reforms are introduced to 141 00:07:29,800 --> 00:07:32,120 Speaker 1: Parliament and whether there's any knock on effects in other 142 00:07:32,160 --> 00:07:35,320 Speaker 1: states in Australia, but for today, that's all we've got 143 00:07:35,320 --> 00:07:37,880 Speaker 1: time for on the daily OS. 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