Drink Spiking & Sexual Assault

Drink spiking 

Drink spiking occurs when alcohol and/or another drug is placed in a person's drink without their knowledge.  The most common drug used for drink spiking is extra alcohol. Young women are more commonly the targets of drink spiking and the resulting harms can include sexual assault, robbery and unprotected sex. You can reduce the risk of drink spiking by not leaving drinks unattended, and not accepting drinks from strangers, keeping your drink covered. If you think a friend may have been affected by drink spiking, do not leave them alone and seek medical attention. 

For more information on drink spiking visit the Alcohol Think Again website. 

Sexual assault  

Sexual assault can happen anywhere, for example where there are lots of people, people you don’t know or people you have just met. 

• Forcing someone to engage in sexual activity is a crime. 
• When someone is intoxicated they do not have the capacity to give consent and cannot legally consent to sexual activity. 
• You can withdraw consent at any time during sexual activity, even after prolonged periods.
• The age of consent is 16 years. 
• If a person has diminished capacity (e.g. learning disability) they are not able to give consent. 
• Date rape is a crime. 
• Both males and females can be victims and/or perpetrators of sexual assault. 
• Sexual assault is never the fault of the victim. 

Visit Reach Out for more information about sexual assault. 

Contact the Sexual Assault Resource Centre (SARC) in a crisis or for information and counselling on 08 6458 1828.