Sexual offences in New South Wales have always distinguished between non-consensual physical activity involving actual penetration – including the historical offence of rape which was abolished in 1981 and the offence carnal knowledge which was abolished in 1986 – and non-penetrative, non-consensual physical sexual activity, including the offence of indecent assault which was abolished in 2018.
Non-consensual penetrative sexual activity in our state is now known as the offence of sexual assault, while non-consensual sexual activity that does not involve penetration is now known as the offence of sexual touching.
The primary difference between these offences is, of course, the fact of penetration, which can make a vast difference to the maximum penalty that applies.
