Knowledge of a child's age is not an element of the offence of permitting a child to act as a prostitute under s 16(1) of the Prostitution Act 2000 (WA). Section 49 of the Act displaces the ordinary common law burden of proof by imposing on the accused the burden of proving on the balance of probabilities that all reasonable steps were taken to ascertain the person's age and that the accused believed on reasonable grounds the person was at least 18. The classification of offences as 'absolute' by reference to common law mens rea concepts is inapplicable under the Criminal Code (WA).
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