Criminal Code Amendment (Post and Boast Offence) Bill 2025
25—1 page i
Western Australia
Criminal Code Amendment (Post and Boast
Offence) Bill 2025
Contents
Short title 2
Commencement 2
Act amended 2
Part IV Chapter 26B inserted 2
Chapter 26B — Disseminating material about
particular offending conduct
221G. Terms used 2
221H. Relevant offence 3
221I. Disseminating material about particular
offending conduct 4
221J. Defence to s. 221I charge 6
221K. Exceptions 8
221L. Rectification order 8
221M. Revocation, replacement or continuation
of order 10
221N. Revocation of order by court that made
order 10
221O. No appeal against certain decisions 11
221P. Time for prosecution 11
221Q. Disapplication of Interpretation Act 1984
s. 71 11
page 1
Western Australia
LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL
Criminal Code Amendment (Post and Boast
Offence) Bill 2025
A Bill for
An Act to amend The Criminal Code.
The Parliament of Western Australia enacts as follows:
Criminal Code Amendment (Post and Boast Offence) Bill 2025
s. 1
page 2
Short title1
This is the Criminal Code Amendment (Post and Boast Offence)2
Act 2025.3
Commencement4
This Act comes into operation as follows —5
(a) sections 1 and 2 — on the day on which this Act6
receives the Royal Assent;7
(b) the rest of the Act — on a day fixed by proclamation.8
Act amended9
This Act amends The Criminal Code.10
Part IV Chapter 26B inserted11
At the end of Part IV insert:12
13
Chapter 26B — Disseminating material about14
particular offending conduct15
221G. Terms used16
In this Chapter —17
conduct has the meaning given in section 221I(2)(b);18
disseminate, in relation to material, includes —19
(a) broadcast, communicate, exhibit, sell, send,20
supply, transmit or publish the material by21
electronic or other means, including social22
media; and23
(b) make the material available for access by24
electronic or other means by another person;25
Criminal Code Amendment (Post and Boast Offence) Bill 2025
s. 4
page 3
law enforcement agency means —1
(a) the Police Force of the State; or2
(b) the Police Service of the State; or3
(c) the Office of the Director of Public4
Prosecutions of the State; or5
(d) the Corruption and Crime Commission; or6
(e) an entity of another State or Territory, the7
Commonwealth or another country that has8
functions similar to functions of an entity9
referred to in paragraph (a), (b), (c) or (d);10
material includes —11
(a) any object, picture, photograph, film, written or12
printed matter, data or other thing; and13
(b) any thing from which text, pictures, sound or14
data can be produced or reproduced, with or15
without the aid of anything else;16
relevant offence has the meaning given in17
section 221H.18
221H. Relevant offence19
(1) A relevant offence is —20
(a) an offence against a provision of Chapter IX,21
XI, 11A, XXX, XXXVI, XXXVIII, XXXIX,22
XLIV or XLVI; or23
(b) an offence against any of the following24
provisions of the Road Traffic Act 1974 —25
(i) section 59;26
(ii) section 59A;27
(iii) section 59BA;28
(iv) section 60;29
(v) section 60A;30
Criminal Code Amendment (Post and Boast Offence) Bill 2025
s. 4
page 4
(vi) section 61;1
(vii) section 62;2
(viii) section 62A;3
or4
(c) an offence prescribed by the regulations.5
(2) An offence against the law of the Commonwealth, or6
of any jurisdiction outside Western Australia, is a7
relevant offence if the act or omission that constituted8
the offence under that law would have constituted a9
relevant offence under subsection (1) if it had occurred10
in Western Australia.11
221I. Disseminating material about particular offending12
conduct13
(1) In this section —14
child means a child of any age;15
victim, of a relevant offence, means any of the16
following —17
(a) a person who has suffered injury, loss or18
damage as a direct result of the relevant19
offence;20
(b) if a person (the deceased person) died as a21
result of the relevant offence — a person who,22
at the time of the relevant offence, was —23
(i) the deceased person’s spouse; or24
(ii) the deceased person’s de facto partner;25
or26
(iii) a person to whom the deceased person27
was engaged to be married; or28
(iv) a parent, grandparent, guardian,29
step-parent or step-grandparent of the30
deceased person; or31
Criminal Code Amendment (Post and Boast Offence) Bill 2025
s. 4
page 5
(v) a child, grandchild, step-child or1
step-grandchild of the deceased person,2
or some other child for whom the3
deceased person was the guardian; or4
(vi) a brother, sister, half-brother, half-sister,5
step-brother or step-sister of the6
deceased person; or7
(vii) a person regarded under Aboriginal or8
Torres Strait Islander customary law9
and culture as a member of the extended10
family or kinship group of the deceased11
person.12
(2) A person commits an offence if —13
(a) the person disseminates material; and14
(b) the material depicts an act or omission15
(conduct) that constitutes a relevant offence;16
and17
(c) a reasonable person would consider that —18
(i) the material, or dissemination of the19
material, is likely to humiliate,20
intimidate or victimise a victim of the21
relevant offence; or22
(ii) the material, or dissemination of the23
material, is likely to be offensive or24
demeaning to a person or group of25
persons; or26
(iii) it is likely that the material was27
disseminated for a purpose referred to in28
subsection (3).29
Penalty for this subsection: imprisonment for 3 years.30
Criminal Code Amendment (Post and Boast Offence) Bill 2025
s. 4
page 6
(3) The purposes are the following —1
(a) the purpose of increasing the reputation or2
notoriety of a person who engaged in the3
conduct;4
(b) the purpose of boasting of the conduct;5
(c) the purpose of glorifying the conduct;6
(d) the purpose of encouraging others to engage in7
the same or similar conduct.8
(4) A person may be prosecuted for, and convicted of, an9
offence against subsection (2) whether or not anyone10
has been prosecuted for, or convicted of, the relevant11
offence.12
221J. Defence to s. 221I charge13
(1) It is a defence to a charge of an offence against14
section 221I(2) to prove that —15
(a) the material was disseminated for a genuine16
scientific, educational, academic, artistic,17
literary, satirical or entertainment purpose; or18
(b) the material was disseminated by —19
(i) a journalist in the course of their20
activities as a journalist; or21
(ii) a news publisher in the course of their22
activities as a news publisher;23
or24
(c) the conduct that is depicted in the material is25
fictional or was artificially created; or26
(d) the material was disseminated to warn of,27
complain about or denounce the conduct; or28
(e) the dissemination of the material was —29
(i) reasonably necessary for the purposes of30
legal proceedings, reporting to or31
Criminal Code Amendment (Post and Boast Offence) Bill 2025
s. 4
page 7
assisting a law enforcement agency or1
making an insurance claim; or2
(ii) otherwise reasonably necessary in the3
circumstances;4
or5
(f) the dissemination of the material was in the6
public interest.7
(2) In determining whether a person is a journalist, a court8
may consider the following matters —9
(a) whether the person is regularly engaged and10
active in —11
(i) gathering and assessing information12
about matters of public interest; and13
(ii) preparing the information, or providing14
comment or opinion on or analysis of15
the information, for publication or16
broadcast, whether or not by a news17
publisher;18
(b) whether the person complies with a recognised19
professional standard or code of practice in20
carrying out the activities referred to in21
paragraph (a);22
(c) any other matter the court considers relevant.23
(3) In determining whether an entity is a news publisher, a24
court may consider the following matters —25
(a) whether the entity is engaged in the business of26
publishing or broadcasting news, or comment27
or opinion on or analysis of news, to the public28
or a section of the public;29
(b) whether the entity is a public or community30
broadcasting service engaged in publishing or31
broadcasting news, or comment or opinion on32
Criminal Code Amendment (Post and Boast Offence) Bill 2025
s. 4
page 8
or analysis of news, to the public or a section of1
the public;2
(c) whether the entity complies with a recognised3
professional standard or code of practice in4
publishing or broadcasting;5
(d) any other matter the court considers relevant.6
221K. Exceptions7
(1) In this section —8
intelligence agency has the meaning given in the9
Crimes Act 1914 (Commonwealth) section 15K.10
(2) A member or officer of a law enforcement agency or11
intelligence agency does not contravene12
section 221I(2) if the act that would otherwise13
constitute the offence is done in good faith in the14
performance of the official duties of the member or15
officer.16
(3) A person does not contravene section 221I(2) if the act17
that would otherwise constitute the offence is done in18
good faith in the course of official duties connected19
with the administration of justice, including the20
investigation of offences.21
221L. Rectification order22
(1) This section applies in relation to —23
(a) a person charged with an offence against24
section 221I(2); and25
(b) any proceedings for or relating to the charge26
(including proceedings under the Bail27
Act 1982) held before a court.28
Criminal Code Amendment (Post and Boast Offence) Bill 2025
s. 4
page 9
(2) The court may order the person to take reasonable1
actions to remove, retract, recover, delete, destroy or2
forfeit to the State any material to which the charge3
relates within a period specified in the order.4
(3) The court may make an order under subsection (2) —5
(a) on its own initiative; or6
(b) on the application, which may be made orally,7
of the prosecutor.8
(4) The court may make an order under subsection (2)9
whether or not the person is convicted of the offence10
against section 221I(2).11
(5) In considering whether or not to make an order under12
subsection (2), and the content of that order, the court13
must have regard to any other similar obligations the14
person is under in relation to the material.15
(6) This section does not limit a court’s powers under16
section 731 or under the Criminal Property17
Confiscation Act 2000.18
(7) A person who, without reasonable excuse, fails to19
comply with an order made under subsection (2)20
commits an offence.21
Penalty for this subsection:22
(a) imprisonment for 12 months and a fine of23
$12 000;24
(b) a daily penalty of a fine of $200 for each day25
or part of a day during which the offence26
continues.27
(8) Paragraph (b) of the penalty in subsection (7) does not28
apply to a person who is a child at the time the order is29
made.30
Criminal Code Amendment (Post and Boast Offence) Bill 2025
s. 4
page 10
221M. Revocation, replacement or continuation of order1
(1) This section applies if —2
(a) a person is convicted of an offence against3
section 221L(7) in relation to an order made4
under section 221L(2); and5
(b) at the time of the conviction the order has not6
been complied with.7
(2) The court convicting the person may —8
(a) revoke the order; or9
(b) revoke the order and make another order10
against the person under section 221L(2).11
(3) If the court convicting the person does not act under12
subsection (2) —13
(a) the order continues to have effect; but14
(b) without affecting the person’s conviction, the15
period specified in the order is taken to be —16
(i) the period specified by the court; or17
(ii) if subparagraph (i) does not apply — the18
period of 14 days from the day of the19
person’s conviction.20
221N. Revocation of order by court that made order21
(1) In this section —22
prosecuting authority, for an order, means —23
(a) the Police Force; or24
(b) if the prosecutor before the court under25
section 221L was representing a different26
prosecuting authority — that authority.27
(2) If a court makes an order under section 221L(2), the28
court may revoke the order if satisfied that there is29
good reason to do so.30
Criminal Code Amendment (Post and Boast Offence) Bill 2025
s. 4
page 11
(3) The court may revoke the order —1
(a) on its own initiative; or2
(b) on the application, which may be made orally,3
of —4
(i) the prosecuting authority for the order;5
or6
(ii) the person subject to the order.7
(4) If the person subject to the order applies under8
subsection (3)(b)(ii), the prosecuting authority for the9
order is the respondent to the application.10
221O. No appeal against certain decisions11
No appeal lies from a decision of a court under12
section 221L(2), 221M(2)(a) or (b) or (3)(b)(i) or13
221N(2).14
221P. Time for prosecution15
A prosecution for an offence against a provision of this16
Chapter may be commenced at any time.17
221Q. Disapplication of Interpretation Act 1984 s. 7118
The Interpretation Act 1984 section 71 does not apply19
for the purposes of this Chapter.20
21