A protester locks himself onto heavy machinery at a coal terminal, halting operations for hours. A furious ex-partner smashes a television during an argument. A teenager spray-paints graffiti across a train carriage.
Most people would assume all of these situations clearly amount to criminal property damage.
But under New South Wales criminal law, the answer is not always straightforward.
In fact, Australia’s highest court has confirmed that simply making property unusable — even shutting down a major industrial machine — does not necessarily amount to “damage” in the eyes of the law.
The distinction may sound technical, but it sits at the heart of one of the most commonly prosecuted offences in NSW: destroying or damaging property.
