Australian Capital Territory Numbered Acts Australian Capital Territory Numbered Acts4. After section 8 of the Principal Act the following section is inserted:
“9. (1) In this section—
“(2) Where—
(a) an ‘MA' film is, or is about to be, exhibited to persons on payment of a charge or on presentation of a ticket or other token;
(b) a young person is in a place from which the exhibition of the film is, or will be, capable of being seen; and
(c) that person is not accompanied by his or her parent or guardian;
the person who has the management of the place at which the film is, or is about to be, exhibited is guilty of an offence.
Penalty: $500.
“(3) It is a defence to a prosecution for an offence against subsection (2) if it is proved that—
(a) the person charged with the offence took reasonable precautions to ensure that young persons were not admitted to the exhibition unaccompanied by their parents or guardians; or
(b) the young person named in the charge appeared to be younger than 2 years of age, or 15 years of age or older, at the time the offence is alleged to have been committed.
“(4) It is a defence to a prosecution for an offence against subsection (2) if it is proved that the young person named in the charge was accompanied, at the time the offence is alleged to have been committed, by a person who appeared to be the young person's parent or guardian.”.