Corpus
Text as at 26 April 2026
This provision has not been checked by a human. The text below was read automatically from the official PDF and has not yet been verified against it, so it may differ from the provision as published — in its wording, its numbering, or where one provision ends and the next begins. For the authorised text, see legislation.vic.gov.au.
Act index » Part I - Offences » Division 1 - Offences against the person » Subdivision (8) - Sexual offences (general provisions)

35 Definitions

(1)In this Subdivision and Subdivisions (8A) to
S. 35(1) amended by No. 38/2022 s. 11.
(8FA)—
animal means any animal (other than a human being), whether vertebrate or not;
care, supervision or authority—see section 37;
cognitive impairment has the same meaning as in Subdivision (8E);
S. 35(1) def. of cognitive impairment inserted by No. 38/2022 s. 7.
commercial sexual services means services involving the use or display of the body of the person providing the services for the sexual arousal or sexual gratification of others for— whether or not the commercial benefit, payment or reward accrues to, or is given to, the person providing the services or to another person;
S. 35(1) def. of commercial sexual services inserted by No. 7/2022 s. 39(1).
(a)commercial benefit; or
(b)payment; or
(c)reward (including the supply of a drug of dependence within the meaning of the Drugs, Poisons and Controlled Substances Act 1981)—
S. 35(1) def. of consent substituted by No. 38/2022 s. 4.
domestic partner of a person means—
(a)a person who is in a registered domestic relationship with the person; or
(b)a person to whom the person is not married but with whom the person is living as a couple on a genuine domestic basis (irrespective of gender or gender identity);
See also subsection (2).
mental illness has the same meaning as in Subdivision (8E);
S. 35(1) def. of mental illness inserted by No. 38/2022 s. 7.
sexual, in relation to an activity—see section 35D;
sexual, in relation to touching—see section 35B;
sexual penetration—see section 35A;
take part in a sexual act—see section 35C;
touching—see section 35B;
vagina includes the external genitalia.
S. 35(1) def. of vagina substituted by No. 5/2018 s. 3(1), amended by No. 38/2022 s. 91(1).
(1A)For the purposes of the definition of commercial
S. 35(1A) inserted by No. 7/2022 s. 39(2).
sexual services in subsection (1), a person may provide services on a single occasion or on multiple occasions.
(2)For the purposes of the definition of domestic
partner in subsection (1)—
(a)registered domestic relationship has the same meaning as in the Relationships Act 2008; and
(b)in determining whether persons who are not in a registered domestic relationship are domestic partners of each other, all the circumstances of their relationship are to be taken into account, including any one or more of the matters referred to in section 35(2) of the Relationships Act 2008 as may be relevant in a particular case.
(3)For the purposes of this Subdivision and Subdivisions (8A) to (8FA), a reference to a part of the body includes a reference to a surgically altered or constructed part of the body.
S. 35(3) inserted by No. 5/2018 s. 3(2), amended by No. 38/2022 s. 11.