Strict and absolute liability offences in NSW

Absolute Liability

Absolute liability offences are those where there is no specified requirement of intention or a certain level of knowledge before an offence is found proven. A defendant also is unable to defend the charge by showing they did not know or intend to do a specific act. This means a person can commit an offence without any planning or awareness of what they were doing.

A common example of absolute liability offences are parking offences. A person may park their vehicle on a curb and not have noticed a 'No Stopping' sign. They had no intention to disobey a parking restriction and wouldn't have parked there had they known. But, because their vehicle is physically parked in the wrong area, they are guilty of the offence and cannot defend it at court based on the fact they didn't know or intend to disobey the sign.