Summary Offences Act 2005

A person must not interfere with—

a grave, vault, niche or memorial in a cemetery or at a crematorium; or

a war memorial; or

a thing fixed at a place of religious worship.

Maximum penalty—1 year’s imprisonment.

It is a defence for the person to prove that the person was acting—

with lawful authority or in the reasonable belief that the person was acting with lawful authority; or

with any other reasonable excuse.

In this section—crematorium includes the land or water where the crematorium is situated.interfere, with a thing, includes—

destroy, damage, move or mark it; and

otherwise deal with it in a way that is likely to cause offence to a reasonable person.

lawful authority means authority under an Act or given lawfully by either of the following—

the owner of the thing interfered with;

if the thing interfered with is in a cemetery or at a crematorium and there is an entity responsible for managing and administering the cemetery or crematorium—the entity.

memorial, in a cemetery or at a crematorium, includes the following—

a headstone;

an inscribed plaque or commemorative plate;

a monumental, ornamental or other structure;

another thing erected or placed—

to mark the site where human remains have been buried or placed; or

to commemorate a deceased person.