Section 37AA of the Crimes Act 1958 (Vic) did not alter the established position that a genuine belief in consent necessarily negatives awareness that the complainant was not or might not be consenting; the two states of mind remain mutually exclusive. The Judicial College charge book direction suggesting otherwise was erroneous. The proviso may be applied where a misdirection on belief in consent could not have been operative because the real issue at trial was consent in fact.
The full text is available to signed-in members, including the 17 later cases that cite this judgment.
8 of the 17 citing cases carry a classified treatment. How each court treated it is available to signed-in members.