Specific Offences

It is a criminal offence for anyone to make you reasonably fear for your safety or the safety of someone you know by:

• repeatedly following you or someone you know
• repeatedly visiting, calling, writing or contacting you or someone you know
• watching your home or workplace or the home or workplace of someone you know
• threatening you or someone in your family

An offence does not need to involve an actual injury. The offender does not need to have intended to harm you. If their behaviour would cause a reasonable person to fear for their safety, it is criminal harassment. Serious cases could result in an offender being sent to jail for up to 10 years. In some cases, an offender may be prohibited from possessing firearms, ammunition or explosives.

It is a criminal offence for anyone to try to force you to do something or prevent you from doing something by:

• using violence against you, your family or your property
• threatening you or your family with violence or damage to your property
• following you
• taking your things
• chasing after you by car or blocking your vehicle
• watching your home or place of work

If convicted, an offender can be sentenced to up to five years in jail.

It is a criminal offence for anyone to threaten to:

• kill or cause bodily harm to any person
• damage, destroy or burn property
• kill, poison or injure any person's animal or bird

The maximum penalty for threatening death or bodily harm is a jail sentence of five years. The maximum penalty for uttering threats to damage property or kill or injure animals is two years.

It is a criminal offence to make an indecent telephone call or to repeatedly call someone to harass them. It is also a criminal offence to tell someone false information with the intent to injure or alarm them. For example, a person cannot lie and tell you that someone close to you has been injured or killed.

The maximum punishment for these offences is two years in jail.

Extortion means using threats or violence to get someone to do something or to obtain something. Extortion is a criminal offence. Many people think of extortion as involving only money, but this is not always the case. For example, a person could be convicted of extorting an act of sexual intercourse.

The maximum punishment for the offence of extortion is life imprisonment and a mandatory order prohibiting the offender from possessing firearms, ammunition or explosives. If a firearm is used in the offence, the minimum punishment is a four year jail sentence.

It is a criminal offence to cause a disturbance in a public place. It is also an offence to loiter, molest or obstruct people in a public place. Causing a disturbance could cover things like fighting or yelling on the street, or shouting or harassing someone in a bar, restaurant or shopping mall.

The maximum punishment for this offence is two years less a day in jail and a fine of $5,000.