Councillor pushes for ban on kids’ piercings

By Sarah Schwager
CASEY is showing it’s a council to be reckoned with as one councillor again lobbies for statewide changes.
Councillor Steve Beardon is pushing for Victoria to follow recent New South Wales restrictions on body piercing.
The NSW laws ban all minors under 16 from having their tongues or belly buttons pierced without parental permission.
The move followed concern among doctors about potentially fatal infections in schoolchildren after nipple, tongue and genital piercings have gone wrong.
In Victoria, there are no age limits for piercing; however, most practitioners have their own rules when it comes to young customers.
But Cr Beardon said this was not enough.
He wants to see piercing, including ear piercing, banned for children under 18 unless they have consent from their parents.
“The State Government is leaving it up to the parents to monitor their children,” he said.
“But the parents are the last ones to know when their kids get a piercing.”
While there are no rules prohibiting genital piercing in minors, under sections 47 and 49 of the Crimes Act 1958 it is an offence to perform an indecent act with a child under the age of 16.
Although this does not specifically refer to body piercing, there are suggestions that piercing of genital regions could be deemed an indecent act with a minor.
Casey mayor Colin Butler said Cr Beardon’s motion would be voted on at a council meeting on 23 January.
He said while council may opt to write letters to the government, Casey could not introduce a by-law on the issue as it came under the Health Act.
Cr Butler said it would be up to councillors on how they voted on the night, but he said to ban all piercing, including ear piercing, may be going a bit far.
Cr Beardon’s motion asks that council write to the Victorian Minister for Health, the Opposition spokesperson and local MPs in support of the NSW laws and recommend Victoria enact similar legislation.
He also wants officers to prepare a report on the feasibility of a local law on parental consent for body piercing by Casey operators should the Victorian Government not act on the issue.