Consent is required when filming a person’s private parts, and recording without it amounts to a criminal offence where the maximum penalty is two years’ imprisonment, or five years if the child is under 16 years of age. This is similar to filming a person engaged in a private act.
If the subject is under 16 years of age, the prison sentence increases, up to five years. Failure to obtain the subject’s consent amounts to a criminal offence, and the maximum penalty is up to two years’ imprisonment. For example, using a webcam to film another person engaged in a “private act” must require the consent of the person being filmed. A “private act” is if the person being filmed is in a state of undress, using the toilet, shower or bath, engaged in a sexual act of a kind not ordinarily done in public, or engaged in any other like activity, and a reasonable person would ordinarily expect to be afforded privacy in that circumstance.
Generally, you can film in a public space without consent, although you may need a permit from the local council if you are making a film.Ī private space is an area owned by someone, and that someone can set rules of entry and exit.Įxamples of private spaces are homes, shops, sporting venues, shopping malls, schools and similar places.
The rules differ depending on whether the filming is being done in a public space or a private space.Ī public place is a social space that is open and accessible to everyone, like a park, or the footpath or road.
#JUDICIAL CONSENT MOVIE ONLINE SERIES#
In a series of upcoming posts, we will discuss filming in public spaces using smart phones and other devices, what the law says about having cameras in your own home, and other scenarios. This article will examine what the law says about one individual filming another individual in a private space. Some acts of filming can amount to a criminal offence. These include state and commonwealth privacy, surveillance and telephone interception acts. There are various state and commonwealth laws that apply, and that may prevent you from using a recording obtained without a person’s consent. Whether consent is required to film another person depends on who is filming, what is being filmed, where it is being filmed, and for what purpose. The law regarding filming or videoing another individual is complex.