Section 4 of the Criminal Law (Sexual Offences) Act 1978 (Qld) does not restrict the common law rule permitting impeachment of a complainant's credit by evidence of reputation for untruthfulness; that Act only protects against unfair conclusions from previous sexual activity. Where the prosecution relies on general evidence of continuing sexual conduct to sustain a particular count, it should specify the particular occasion relied upon. The proviso under s 668E(1A) may be applied where wrongly excluded reputation evidence was of limited weight and its admission would have triggered disclosure of the accused's criminal history.
The full text is available to signed-in members, including the 5 later cases that cite this judgment.