Reforms that change the way sexual assault cases are dealt with in Victoria have passed the state's parliament.
The state government has described the suite of changes to the Crimes Act as adopting an "affirmative consent" model as well as providing "better protections" for victims and survivors of sexual assault.
It says the changes bring the state's laws into line with those in other states, like New South Wales and Tasmania, but the changes have received a mixed reception, with organisations representing lawyers raising concerns.
Here's what we know about how the changes will work and how they are being received more broadly.
What's actually changing?
The Victorian government flagged the changes in November last year.
The changes introduce additional language to the section of the legislation that deals with consent in order to align it more closely with the affirmative consent model, which puts the onus on the accused person to confirm they have received consent, rather than scrutinising the behaviour of the victim-survivor.
The changes will also outline that a practice commonly referred to as "stealthing" — removing or not wearing a condom without a partner's knowledge — is a breach of consent.
They also alter the sexual offending laws in relation to intimate images — which includes distributing, or threatening to distribute such images — and the penalties for breaching that law have been increased.
Deepfake porn, where a person's image is used to make it look like they are doing something sexual, has also been spelled out in the amendments.
Why is it changing?
The Andrews government has said the changes resulted from recommendations in a report released by the Victorian Law Reform Commission on November 12 last year.
The report made 91 recommendations that the commission said would "improve how the justice system responds to sexual offences".
According to the report, one in five women over the age of 15 has experienced sexual assault and more than 85 per cent of those assaults have not been reported to police, with "many people who have committed sexual assault … not held accountable for their actions".
What has the response been?
Despite some groups such as Rape and Sexual Assault Research and Advocacy previously backing the changes, key Victorian legal bodies are concerned the reforms will not work as intended.
The advocacy group's Saxon Mullins, an outspoken sexual assault survivor, has explained why the affirmative consent model is important.
"It just makes sense that you would make it a law that you have to check," Ms Mullins said.
"If you want to say you had a reasonable belief that someone was consenting, you have to find out.
"You can't just assume based on silence."
President of the Law Institute of Victoria Tania Wolff said although the changes included some "great reforms", she had concerns the changes related to defining consent would make things "more confusing".
She said the amendments were "convoluted and difficult" and could result in more juries being unable to reach decisions.
"Our perspective is that there is no gap in the law, that the legislative framework accommodates for an affirmative consent model … we actually just need to use it effectively and we need to have education that precedes it," she said.
Ms Wolff said significant changes to Victoria's sexual assault laws relating to consent had already been made in 2015.
"What there ought to be is an emphasis on education now, so that the community can understand that," she said.
"That's what they're starting to do in schools.
"That's a far better response, in our view, than complicating legislation."
She said the organisation supported the changes related to "stealthing" included in the reforms but was opposed to increasing penalties for those convicted of image-based sexual offences.
"We understand those kinds of offences are predominantly perpetrated by younger people, and the emphasis should be on education," Ms Wolff said.
"Although there's an increased incidence of this offending … many of these young people are quite ignorant of the significance of their actions.
"We think the criminal justice response has to be weighted in favour of rehabilitation and education."
In submissions the Criminal Bar Association made in response to the Victorian Law Reform Commission's report, the organisation said the state's "communicative model of consent" in the existing laws was "working as intended and should not be further amended".
