I don't , I don't, I do

We have a bit of an anomaly with our laws in South Australia. You can be married at 16 as long as your partner is 18 or over, but it is actually illegal to have sex until you can give consent at 17. Then you can be sexually active and proactive for a year, you could even have a baby, but you may not see R rated movies until you are 18!! So I guess we recommend not living vicariously. It was actually the Social Purity Society which raised the age of consent for girls in SA to 16 in 1885. Somewhere along the line the society for the Utterly Pure and Totally Pristine raised it to 17.

Marriage
· People 18 years of age can marry without anyone's consent.
· At 16 a young person can marry with parental consent and the consent of a court. This can happen only if one young person is over 18.
· In special circumstances the Court may give permission for people under 18 to marry without their parents' consent.
Sex
· Young people who are 17 or older can give consent to sexual intercourse ie a person can have sex with them if they agree to it.
· The law is the same for males and females.
· It is an offence to have sex with a person under 17, even if both young people are under 17 and both agree.
· If a person is married and under 17 it is not an offence to have sex with the partner.
· It is an offence for a person in a position of care or authority to have sex with a person under 18.
Note: Parents cannot "take a person to court" for this, but they can report it to the police and ask the police to make a charge.
Sex shops
Young people under 18 cannot go into sex shops.

Here is the run down on what kids are and aren't allowed by law in SA.

Classifications

Films and computer games are classified into either advisory or restricted categories. These categories are described in the classification guidelines which can be downloaded from this page.

Anyone can watch films and play games that are classified G, PG, G8+ and M15+. There are age recommendations, but no legal restrictions on viewing.

If a film or a computer game is classified MA15+, the content is considered to be strong enough to impose legal restrictions on students who are under 15 years. this page.

R18+ films are for adults. There is no R classification for computer games.

Some educational films and games may be exempt from classification.

Classification and consumer advice decisions are based on the classifiable elements in a movie, computer game or publication. Classifiable elements include themes (eg suicide, racism, corruption), violence, sex, coarse language, drug use and nudity.


What are the classifications?



General

Parental guidance recommended for persons under 15 years

Recommended for mature audiences 15 years and over

Classifications below are legally restricted

Restrictions apply to persons under the age of 15

Restricted to adults 18 years and over

This site gives you the official classifications.