Ages of Consent in Oceania - New Zealand

New Zealand

It is an offence in New Zealand to have a sexual connection with a person under the age of 16 It is a defence if due diligence had been undertaken by the defendant to ascertain the victim's age, had reasonable grounds to believe the victim was aged 16 or over and consent was given. Further it is an offence for a person to have a sexual connection with a person under the age of 18 if the defendant is in a guardianship role (parent, stepparent, foster parent, guardian, uncle, aunt or other members of extended family, whanau or other power or authority or responsibility for care or upbringing)

New Zealand has had a uniform and equal age of consent of 16, regardless of sexual orientation and/or gender since the passage of the Homosexual Law Reform Act in 1986. All territories of New Zealand have legalized homosexuality in 2007 (except for the Cook Islands as shown below) LGBT rights in New Zealand under the Niue Amendment Act 2007.

Although age of consent laws in New Zealand (as with most other western countries) are currently severe, consensual relationships between adults and young teens are usually not prosecuted unless the parent or child complain about it. Similarly, although a teen 14 years or older can be prosecuted for a consensual relationship with a teen under 16 (both parties if both are 14 years or older), this is extremely rare. Even with a complaint, it is still up to police discretion and if the age difference is small it is rarely prosecuted, with family group conferences being the more likely option. There was an attempt to formalise this under law in 2004, however this was abandoned after a public outcry. It is interesting to note that before 2005, there was not a law in New Zealand prohibiting any form of sexual relationship between adult women and male minors.