SA stalking laws to be updated to include new and emerging technologies used by perpetrators to harass victims

South Australia’s stalking laws will be updated to include the new and emerging technologies used by online creeps to harass victims.

South Australia’s stalking laws will be updated to include the new and emerging technologies that perpetrators are using to harass their victims.

The state government will soon begin consultation on changes to existing laws, which would also aim to make it easier for authorities to prosecute offenders.

Attorney-General Kyam Maher said the reforms, set to be introduced to parliament later this year, will update the list of stalking and harassing behaviours.

New forms of stalking include using electronic devices to track someone’s movements or monitoring a person’s email account or internet browser.

The proposed changes would also make clear that stalking or harassing behaviours can occur on social media or any other online platform.

Current laws require the prosecution to prove a defendant intended the stalking behaviour to cause serious physical or mental harm, or serious apprehension or fear – but the changes would remove the reference to “serious”.

Mr Maher said stalking or harassment can have a significant impact on the victim even in cases where the perpetrator’s intention does not meet the “serious” threshold.

“We want to address this, and make it clear that any behaviour aimed at causing, or that would reasonably be known to cause physical or mental harm, or apprehension or fear, can constitute unlawful stalking and harassment,” he said.

“This will ensure authorities have scope to take action when this type of offending occurs.

“Ultimately, we will seek to introduce a bill to parliament that better protects victims and ensure perpetrators are held to account for their actions.”

Sean Flintoff was last year sentenced for stalking 25 women. Picture: Facebook

Embolden, South Australia’s peak body for domestic, family and sexual violence services, said updates to current laws were crucial.

“Embolden welcomes public consultation on a bill that aims to better protect victim-survivors of stalking and harassment in SA,” general manager Mary Leaker said.

“In recent years, we have seen huge increases in the use of technology to monitor, surveil and harass as part of a pattern of intimate partner violence, and it is vital that our laws keep pace.”

Northern suburbs man Sean Flintoff was last year jailed for six years after he harassed 25 victims he met on Tinder, Oasis and Facebook – but his non-parole period means he could walk free at the end of this year.

Flintoff, 36, of Andrews Farm, pleaded guilty in the Elizabeth Magistrates Court to 25 counts of stalking relating to 25 women over a period of nine years.