In 2017, Judge Andrew Scotting in the NSW District Court decided that, in this day and age, the “c-word” is no longer deemed offensive language.
Justice Scotting’s ruling came in the case of well-known Sydney activist, Danny Lim, who was arrested for offensive language for holding a sign in public that read “Tony [Abbott] you Cvnt”].
In 2010 the ABCE screened Deadwood, a series infamous for the actors using the “F word” more in one minute than any other TV series in history.
At the 2024 MTV Video Music Awards, Sabrina Carpenter performed her new hit ‘Please Please Please’.
In front of an audience of more than four million viewers, she sang the word “motherf*****” and escaped censure.
The legal threshold for what constitutes offensive language is now much lower as pop culture and edgier art employs profanity liberally.
Yet, swearing is still being policed.
“It doesn’t make much sense that you get charged for swearing when it is commonplace,” western Sydney criminal lawyer, Mathew Nott, said.
“There is no doubt the law needs to be amended as half the time police let swearing go anyway – you can’t half enforce a law and that is the problem.
“I can see some need for deterrence but bad laws get broken so amendments to the Summary Offences Act are required.”
From June 2023 to 2024, 1,021 incidents of offensive language were recorded according to the NSW Bureau of Crime Statistics and Research.
Under the Summary Offences Act, you can be fined a maximum of $660 for using offensive language, in or near, or within hearing from, a public place or a school.
Desensitization to offensive language probably began in 1969, when actor Norman Staines used the “f-word” whilst in character in the play Norm and Ahmed at the Twelfth Night Theatre in Brisbane
The Supreme Court of QLD found the word not to be obscene considering the context of the play.
Luke McNamara, Professor in the Faculty of Law, and Justice at UNSW said: “I’m concerned that we continue, in the 21st Century, the criminalisation of particular words”.
Some communities have a much higher per capita rate of being charged for offensive language.
An Ombudsman report found that Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people received 17% of offensive language infringement notices in 2017.
A defence of reasonable excuse is available.
If you have found yourself in legal trouble concerning offensive language, contact Nott and Co lawyers, highly qualified criminal defence lawyers based in Parramatta, Sydney. www.nottandcolawyers.com.au
