Evidence of possible concoction or contamination between complainants should be assessed as a competing inference within the probative value assessment under s 97 of the Evidence Act 1995 (NSW), not as a separate threshold question. The Hoch v The Queen approach of treating concoction/contamination as a standalone disqualifying factor is not the correct approach under the Evidence Act. Tendency evidence in child sexual assault cases does not require close similarity of allegations, and differences in the ages of complainants are not necessarily significant where there is an underlying pattern of behaviour.
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