Queensland will adopt an affirmative consent model and criminalise "stealthing" as part of major changes to sexual violence laws.
The new consent model will see Queensland follow other states like New South Wales and Victoria, which have passed laws requiring a person participating in a sexual act to actively seek consent from the other person, and not assume it has been given.
Queensland laws currently define consent as "being freely and voluntarily given by a person with the cognitive capacity to give it".
Attorney-General and Minister for the Prevention of Domestic and Family Violence Shannon Fentiman said the government will now move to change the definition to replace the word "given" with "agreed".
"We will provide in the criminal code that consent must be freely and voluntarily agreed, rather than given," she said.
"This better reflects the community's expectations of equality and mutual respect in sexual relationships, and reforms the way that sexual offences are prosecuted and defended," she said.
The reforms will also remove restrictions on naming a person accused of a sexual offence before they are committed to stand trial.
The state will also move to make "stealthing" a crime by recognising it as rape, coming into line with NSW, Victoria, the ACT, South Australia and Tasmania where it is also illegal.
Stealthing is when a partner secretly removes a condom during sex, without the other person's consent.
The act, which experts say has become "common place", will soon attract a maximum penalty of life in prison.
Laws to be introduced next year
Ms Fentiman said the law changes for stealthing, consent and making coercive control a crime would be introduced into Queensland Parliament and passed next year.
"There will be a lot education and awareness campaigns," she said.
"With the changes to affirmative consent, there does need to be a community-wide campaign.
"We do need to start talking about consent and what it means and we need to talk about stealthing.
"So there will be a significant community awareness campaign before the bill is introduced."
The law reforms were among 188 recommendations from the final Women's Safety and Justice Taskforce's Hear her Voice report, which have all been supported or supported in principle by the state government.
The government will invest $225 million to implement the recommendations from the report, which also included upgrading the IT systems in 81 courts across Queensland to make it easier for victims to give evidence, and expanding the 24 hour sexual assault response team in Townsville to two other locations.
A Victims' Commission in Queensland will also be established as an independent statutory office to promote and protect the needs and rights of victims of all violent offences.
'Historic' law changes to 'rebalance the scales'
Queensland Sexual Assault Network secretariat Angela Lynch has labelled the changes as "historic" and applauded the state government, the task force and task force chair Margaret McMurdo for their work to update sexual assault laws.
"Currently, Queensland has some of the worst sexual violence laws in Australia and updating these laws will make a significant difference to victims of sexual violence who are wanting to take action in the courts in the future," she said.
Ms Lynch said changes to consent laws in Queensland had been a long time coming.
"This is something that has been called on for years, if not for decades," she said.
"It changes the legislative approach, it really requires an explicit, informed and voluntary agreement to participate in a sexual act which is different from the law currently in Queensland and how it is interpreted.
"It will rebalance the scales in terms of victims of sexual violence."
Ms Lynch said making stealthing a crime would help address the concerning practice being reported by victims.
"It has become more common practice and something that victims of violence are reporting to sexual violence services," she said.
"For a victim it negates their consent, because they only consent on the basis of having that protection.
"They really feel it is a violation of trust and it exposed them to a range of things that could happen like STIs and unwanted pregnancies."
