New South Wales Laws

Clothing is optional

The first thing to mention is that WNBR is clothing optional. You can go totally naked or wear a space suit if you want or anything in between. It is your choice and organisers will not pressure participants to do anything against their convictions. Additionally we will not tolerate participants pressuring other participants to dress or undress.

Previous experiences

The previous experience in Newcastle has been that no one has been arrested in 2005 and 2006. The police saw us in 2006 when we rode up Hunter St. and mostly laughed. One police officer stopped a couple of riders and had a bit of a grumble but that was it. No police directive was issued so we did not defy them and were not arrested. The ride continued naked to the finish.

No one has made complaints about the WNBR in Newcastle and Novocastrians seem to take the event in the fun nature in which it is intended.

In Melbourne, a member of the public complained to police and the police told the riders to put their clothes back on with a formal directive, the riders complied and the ride was completed with clothes on. No one was arrested in Melbourne either.

Legal References

If you want to know more about the law in NSW perhaps you can have a look at these links:

SUMMARY OFFENCES ACT 1988 - SECT 5 Obscene exposure
5 Obscene exposure
A person shall not, in or within view from a public place or a school, wilfully and obscenely expose his or her person.
Maximum penalty: 10 penalty units or imprisonment for six months

The word 'person' means genitals in legalese.

LOCAL GOVERNMENT AMENDMENT (NUDE BATHING) BILL (debate in Legislative Council of NSW)

NEW SOUTH WALES COURT OF CRIMINAL APPEAL CITATION: R v Barrass [2005] NSWCCA 131 http://www.austlii.edu.au/au/cases/nsw/NSWCCA/2005/131.html

Offensive conduct is something else again and says nothing specifically about nudity.

Honestly, I am uncertain if offensive conduct could apply to a case that would have previously been called indecent exposure. I could not find any precedents that indicated that it was. The trouble with a lot of these cases is that they go unreported in the legal journals unless they get to the appeals or supreme courts.

There is a difference between indecent exposure (which is no longer on the NSW Statute books) and obscene exposure. The Reverend Fred Nile laments the loss of the indecent exposure laws. (See the NSW parliament debate on the Nude Bathing Bill). Rev Nile quotes the famous precedent for distinguishing indecent from obscene.

Lord Sands in the Scottish case of McGowan v Langmuir [1931] S.C. (J.) 10, at 13: I do not think that the two words “indecent” and “obscene” are synonymous. The one may shade into the other, but there is a difference of meaning. It is easier to illustrate than define, and I illustrate thus: for a male bather to enter the water nude in the presence of ladies would be indecent, it would not necessarily be obscene. But if he directed the attention of a lady to a certain member of his body his conduct would certainly be obscene.

So, if you are naked and make gesticulations or say things that are rude you are very likely to get in trouble. Go nude without being lewd.

Naturist websites like Free Beaches Australia have a summary of naturist etiquette as do other respectable naturist groups.

Behaving in a way that is respectful, non-sexual, always non-threatening and considered good behaviour among the established Naturist community should not meet the definition of obscene and although it might be considered at law to be indecent, that law is dead.

This probably is the reason why Spencer Tunick has photographed masses of naked people in public spaces in Sydney without trouble. I am told by a person that attended the photo sessions, several males were taken away by police for behaviour that was sexual.

Summary

On Sunday the 9th of March at 2pm at Rosegum Road Reserve just north of Warabrook / University station everyone should assemble WITH THEIR CLOTHES ON. When the ride gets to the secret painting place, I will explain further on the topic of nakedness and the law.

Like I said at the beginning, your choice to go naked or clothed is your choice. I will respect that participants will do what they want but need to have their eyes open while they do it.

I suspect that police will only seek us out if there is a complaint from the public - so avoid being offensive or confrontational (this goes regardless of the amount of clothes you have on).

If we meet the police we will be jolly and I recommend co-operating if they make a formal directive. I am sure that police do not like to do extra unnecessary work and have a sense of humour. How they apply the law may differ greatly from my opinion or those of a magistrate for that matter. I recommend not getting arrested but I can make no iron clad guarantees about it. My opinions on the law are not professional opinions and I do not take responsibility if you rely on my advice and do not like the outcome.