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25 January 2016

5 Australian Laws Not to Break on Australia Day (...or any other day)


Published on 25 January 2016
Lighthearted law
Insights has compiled a list of odd only-in-Australia laws that you may not realise are contained our weighty tomes of legislation (or in the equally expansive but perhaps less weighty online sphere.)

Take a moment to consider the many laws still in force (though rarely enforced) in this Great, Odd, Southern Land.

Fancy a drive in Brisbane? Don’t sleep overnight in your car.
It’s illegal to camp overnight in your car (or any car, for that matter) on a road in Brisbane. If the Sunshine State’s capital city is all out of hotel rooms, you may want to leave the city limits for an unplanned snooze.

However, if you’re planning to stay in Queensland, and you’re a passenger in someone else’s car, you may want to avoid raising the ire of the driver. It’s legal for drivers or a person nominated by the driver to assault a passenger in the pursuit of “good order”, where deemed reasonable and necessary.

“We have a lot of very obscure offences in the Criminal Code that on the fact of it are quite ridiculous and many of them relate to protection of property,” University of Queensland law professor Andreas Schloenhardt explained to the Courier Mail.

Pink hot pants after midday on the Sabbath? We think not.
In a law regularly reported but rather hard to verify, it is apparently illegal to wear hot pink pants in Victoria on a Sunday. Understandably, hot pants, specifically pink hot pants, run counter to the dour and staid feelings one ought to only entertain on Sundays.

Children cannot buy cigarettes – but legally, they can smoke
In an oversight surely curated, if not at least applauded, by ‘Thank You For Smoking’s fast-talking big tobacco spokesperson, Nick Naylor, it is technically legal for minors to smoke in Australia.

Sheryle Moon, executive director of the Australasian Association of Convenience Stores, is calling for the laws to be amended.

"We already have a zero tolerance policy for unaccompanied minors possessing alcohol, so why can't we do the same with youth smoking?" Ms Moon told the Sydney Morning Herald.

Don’t sing that dirty song in public…it may cost you $250
“Let’s go to the park…I want to kiss you underneath the stars…maybe we’ll go too far…we just don’t care..” Wait. Wait. Stop right there. Sure, after a drink or three you may feel inclined to let your warmer feelings be publicly known in some impromptu karaoke, but think twice if you’re in South Australia.

In our land of vineyards and surprise German settlements, it is illegal to use indecent or profane language or sing any indecent or profane song or ballad in a public place or police station. Maximum fine is $250, so keep that John Legend and Sir Mix A Lot in silent mode, or for the less rap/RnB inclined, Trent Reznor.

It is illegal to leave your windows down and car keys in the ignition of your car
Feeling the heat of another record blazing summer day? Don’t forget your keys, or leave your windows down. In a law rather understandable in theory, and a little constricting in practice, drivers who are more than 3 metres from their car are prohibited from leaving their cars unsecured. This includes ensuring your engine is off, hand brake is on, you have your keys and no windows down One driver incurred a $44 fine for leaving his windows down.