Marking premises or property
4 Marking premises or property
A person must not, without reasonable excuse (proof of which lies on the person), intentionally mark any premises or other property, unless the person has first obtained the consent of the following—
in relation to premises that are occupied—the occupier or person in charge of the premises,
in relation to premises that are unoccupied or other property—the owner or person in charge of the premises or property.
Maximum penalty—4 penalty units.
A person is guilty of an offence under this subsection if the person commits an offence under subsection (1) in circumstances of aggravation.
Maximum penalty—20 penalty units or imprisonment for 12 months.
(Repealed)
A court that convicts a person of an offence under subsection (2) must not sentence the person to imprisonment unless the person has previously been convicted of an offence under this section or section 5 (or under section 10A or 10B of the Summary Offences Act 1988 as in force before their repeal by this Act) on so many occasions that the court is satisfied that the person is a serious and persistent offender and is likely to commit such an offence again.
Subsection (1) does not apply to the marking of any public footpath or public pavement with chalk, including, but not limited to, marking out a hopscotch or handball court with chalk.
In this section—
circumstances of aggravation means circumstances involving 1 or more of the following—
the person intentionally marks the premises or other property by means of a graffiti implement,
the person marks the premises or other property in a way that the mark is not readily removable by—
wiping, or
the use of water or detergent,
the premises or other property is a place of worship.
place of worship has the same meaning as in the Crimes Act 1900, section 214B.
This Act’s bill:Explanatory memorandumSecond reading speech
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