Equal protection/Repeal Section 50 'Domestic Discipline' defence Criminal Code Act

The petition of the undersigned residents of Tasmania draws to the attention of the House:

• That Section 50 of the Criminal Code Act 1924 ('Domestic discipline') denies children the equal protection the Tasmanian law provides against violence and abuse.
• Despite the Tasmania Law Reform Institute recommending the repeal of Section 50 to make clear that physical punishment of children should be unlawful in their comprehensive 2003 report on the matter, this recommendation has yet to be adopted.
• The repeal of Section 50 is further supported by policy statements from the Royal Australasian College of Physicians Paediatrics & Child Health Division in 2013 and the American Academy of pediatrics in 2018.

Your petitioners, therefore, request the House to act on the overwhelming weight of scientific evidence that holds physical punishment of children is ineffective and harmful, and repeal Section 50 of the Criminal Code Act as a matter of priority.