Fights
Overview
Any person, including a young person, who unlawfully assaults another person can be charged with a criminal offence. An assault includes hitting, kicking, pushing, spitting, indirectly applying force or threatening to apply force to another person.
It is also against the law to help or encourage an assault, such as by organising a fight or preventing the victim from leaving.
Filming young people fighting
It is against the law to create, keep, share or ask for material that shows a person under the age of 18 being subject to torture, cruelty or physical abuse. Serious penalties apply.
This could include:
- filming a young person in a fight
- posting or sharing a video of a young person in a fight on social media
- keeping a video of a fight that was sent to you by someone else
School students fighting
Under Department of Education policy, school students who start or film fights involving other students or on school grounds must be suspended.
