Weird, obscure laws that still exist in Australia | What's Going On? 

"Using offensive language in a public place is a criminal offense" Well, there goes 99% of the Australian population 😂

Paying $10 for milk and bread. Must be shopping at IGA

What a pity it's not illegal for PM's to make false promises to get into power...

Its illegal to commit a crime in Australia

In Oklahoma it’s illegal to go whaling or whale hunting. In Oklahoma, landlocked Oklahoma.

Mom: turns on the hoover at 6:59am STOP, YOU VIOLATED THE LAW.

been living in my parents house for more than 12 years... they never specifically gave me permission...

At least we don't have a window tax

its illegal to put onion unda ya sausage sizzle

It’s also illegal to change a lightbulb without an electrician Edit: It’s an old law that’s no longer enforced. It varies from state to state.

You also just banned encryption.

The perfect slave is a slave who believes he is free and defends the system he is under.

Who pays $10 for bread and milk? Rip off prices there!

When I was 7 I bought a $10 magic set with 200 five cent coins because counting them out made me feel rich 🤷‍♂️ And they accepted them no problem

Go to the self serves in supermarkets. Pay for weeks groceries in 5c pieces !

all motorcycles are illegal because turn signals need to be more than a meter apart

Obscure laws like slippery bunnings onions 🤔

It is illegal to wear pink on Brighton Beach in Victoria

the weirdest law in Australia is that some plants that grow naturally in the nature is illegal (cannabis)

Did you know u carnt give a kangaroo more the 5 cans for beers

yet you can do hit and run and only been punished for less than 12 months in jail

"Australia has so many laws the government doesn't have time to comb through them all"... (So what do our politicians and their assistants do other than have coitus with each other?) Even the Constitution has been cited as invalid in some Australian courts. Australia was "settled" with bloodshed as a convict nation and never changed.

I knew about not being able to pay with lots of small coins. My father was a small business owner and one day had someone come in to pay for something with a bunch of coins, they did not have enough so he had just wasted his time. After that he refused them and got them to cash it in at the bank for larger denominations.

shops normally love coins!

At my school they where going around for a gold coin donation and I used a 1 dollar coin from New Zealand 😬

"Using offensive language in a public space is criminal" Is Facebook considered a public place? this could be a funny one

And THIS is why we need sunset clauses on laws. Where after 5-10 years they are removed automatically unless reinstated by parliament. Each law needs to be reinstated individually as well, not just a vote to reinstate all of them. Also it IS illegal to dress up as Batman or Robin. Both characters are masked and unless you are going to a convention, party or have a religious exemption going masked in public is a crime.

There was an episode of Seinfeld that dealt with this. I remember a bloke on a Melbourne tram feeding 10c coins into a Metcard machine to make a point. His ride was nearly finished by the time he paid for his fare and anyone waiting to use the machine got a free ride as legally they had not been fare evading (they had means and intention to pay for their ride and just had no opportunity to do so). Automated checkouts at supermarkets can't say no to coins.

No laws in Australia are followed!!

Why don't you let people comment on videos where the abc is accused of bias?

That the Australian tax office is always right. It's like Catholic dogma where whatever the pope says its the truth, the ATO is covered under law as always being right even when every other law says they are wrong.

In Denmark we have a similar law about coinage. Any cash transactions exceeding 146 pieces of tender (as in coins or notes) can be refused service... When I lived in Sydney back in childhood, my parents got grilled by the school staff for letting me walk to school on my own... something that is pretty normal in Denmark (even in many cities). Whether it's law or the incredibly paranoid safety approach that Aussie schools have is a mystery to me... I also met teachers who were on the verge of calling CPS just for going to the local store on my own (11-12 at the time, again, really normal in my country). Once I was asked by the principal on one of the first days "Don't you know that it isn't safe?" to which I simply answered: "I do know, that's why I'm careful and use common sense in traffic. Look both ways before crossing and such. Where I come from it's normal unless you live, like, 10 miles away... then most kinds just grab a bike to school..." I will never forget that look on her face... as if I came from friggin' Mars or something :D Friend of mine, literally 50 meters further down the road from me was driven to school every morning... total distance to school was about 300 meters, and half of that could be crossed by walking on school grounds... if we were allowed to walk by the kindergarten/preschool area... I did live close to a highway (Pacific Hwy), but I did have enough street smarts not to cross it or play football on it for that matter...

But totally ok to tax the hard working Aussie into oblivion because our government is addicted to spending money, Gst, Fuel excise, import duty, alchopops tax, the highest cigarette and alcohol prices on the planet yet try and pay a fine with 5c coins and its not legal? Yup Australia summed up in a nutshell

I find this out now. I had a customer give me $60 in coins at my workplace.

That thing about refusing too many coins is useful. I filled up at a very busy servo on New Years Eve. The guy ahead of me in the queue piled a whole bunch of silver coins on the counter and said to the operator, 'Can you give me change in notes for this?' The operator spent some time pushing coins back and forth. In the end the register showed the guy had got $5 worth of petrol and handed over more than $22 in 5c and 10c coins to count. When I turned around the shop was filled with the waiting customers from every pump they had.

Fun fact: in Australia there is no written law for free speach

I’ve got about 40 round fifty cent coins and they're worth about $10 each I think. The silver content in them is about 80%. So if you find any round ones don’t spend them because they're worth a lot more than face value.

Australia is amazing

You can dress up as Batman. You can’t dress up as John Batman. Simple as that.

Basically Australia legally enforces manners.

gentlemen this is democracy manifest

its illegal to ride a bicycle without a helmet $300 and 3 points... there's a wacky law

No houseparty music past 12pm in NSW. Literally saving every morning shift worker who works a weekend shift ever. Im sorry, but some laws are actually great. No one wants to hear a chainsaw at their window at 5am!!!!

My brother bought bread at the local IGA. Paid with cash a tenna in the change he received a gold coin that looked odd. On closer inspection it turned out to be a 200 dollar coin. He took it to a bank to ask about it. The manager came out and offered him 250$ for it. It was part of a collection series with not many produced. The take away from this is keep your eyes open.

I thought it was normal that u shouldnt make any unreasonable noise after 10pm and before 7 am... Is it just a thing in vic or??

Completely legal for All governments to sign off on the lima declaration of 1975

Tbh if a person leaves their property unsupervised for 12 years they had it coming.

"Glove slap baby glove slap, I don't take crap!"

Damn i just paid 10$ worth of loose change at maccas the other day in 10 cent pieces

2:50 But cats are completely legal

Its illegal to do electrical work on your house, BUT no one needs a licence to do any form of maintainance or modification work on a vehicle.

it used to be illegal to have Voodoo dolls in Queensland lol

Cannabis is still illegal. Isn't that weird!

My country is archaic. On a good day.

this was so STUPID ! I nearly choked on my Koala sandwich

Thank you for doing your research and not saying that it's illegal to change a lightbulb in Victoria without an electrician. Way too many videos do that but it was changed in like 1999 or something

The restrictions on cleaning bird and bat poo makes sense, if they're trying to reduce the risk of transmitting zoonotic disease (diseases spread from animals to humans). Don't want no Hendra virus or Psittacosis!

Here's a weird and whacky one...proceeds of crime laws...you're not allowed to write the story of YOUR LIFE and make money...but Channel Nine can...???

LOVE the new modern edgy useful ABC/SBS YT content! Its why i subscribed! ... your goal should be much more of our population though :) :)

I'm just surprised people didn't know this, I worked in retail and I just assumed everyone used it

very few of these are correct. The rest is total B.S.

Not sure why this (currency stuff) is being called obscure or weird, considering they teach all this to school children. Also I think the issue of 'legal tender' slightly misses the mark. Legal tender applies to when you want to pay a debt/invoice and the issuer cannot refuse the currency tendered. Shop fronts can refuse the whole lot up front (e.g EFTPOS only is now more common) but it is the vendors choice if they want to lose the customer. I'll give you weird on the goat riding :)

better arrest everyone who dresses as batman and robin then

Happened to me at Woolies. Tried to buy a packet of smokes (before I had quit) with loose change. Was refused. When I asked why they quoted this law. Looked it up and it checked out.

Every country has looked at us as the tuff outback people. I must say our government have completely destroyed that for us

I'll tell you a stupid law. Not having to put a gender on your baby's birth certificate in Tasmania

I was on a plane to Sydney from Melbourne, and the cart refused to take cash

The only bad thing about this is that apparently bread and milk cost $10

can't dress up as Batman or Robin....but can wear a burqa....🤔

Nanny state..

Wonderful law. I've refused before as a pizza guy and someone tried to pay their $40 bill at 1am in nothing bigger than a 20 cent coin. Pretty dangerous hanging out in some rando house counting that garbage. Immediately refused and started walking downstairs. A $50 note was produced rather quickly.

If you only get fined for doing something illegal, then it's legal for a price

The reserve Bank of Australia is a private institution

The Golden Cage

How’s that obscure?!

In WA, you can get a fine from the city council for excessive noise if your neighbours complain about your baby crying. Also, you're not allowed to use any power operated machines/appliances for longer than 2 hours a day. (2 hrs max altogether, not per machine) Also, not allowed to play excessive loud music at any time of the day/night or any loud musical instrument practice.

Ignorance of the law is no excuse. Welcome to Soviet Republic of Australia.

Where do you get a coffee for $3.50 ?

I work in Woolworths on the register and the amount of people paying in 5 cent coins is incredibly annoying

Pubs in Victoria must have a place to tie up horses. A lady in my country town argued this with the local pub because she wanted to be able to ride her horse home from the pub while intoxicated

It's all fiat currency and fake as it is anyway hahaha. So we're all living in fairy land.

People should not use the F word in Australia

for my first halloween i dressed up like batman

Loved the Flight of the Concords clip.

The ABC is doing click bait now. Great.

What about cannabis prohibition? Probably the most archaic law.

I had a customer dump a purse full of coin on my counter to pay for an item worth $37. It was a mixture of 5,10,20 and 50 cent coins. I refused it. The customer told me I had to accept it and that there was exactly $37 there because she had counted it. So why didn't she seperate the denominations and put it all in seperate bags. Long story short, she abused me, complained to my boss who told me I should have accepted it. That wasn't the only reason but I quit shortly thereafter.

I'm upset you didn't use The Simpsons as a reference for the Duel :(

Residental noise laws don't go nearly far enough. Cutoff should be 6pm for anything that bothers neighbours (barking dogs included) a once in a blue moon party is ok.

I agree to refuse use too many coins at the counter to pay. Too difficult and wasted time.

One aussie law i laugh at is. You cant have more than 2 hay bales in your car unless your a cab driver.

Very entertaining and factual thank you

Any mention of the racist clauses in the constitution? I think not.

Politicians who continue to ignore the fact that mass immigration and overcrowding/over-population are the biggest concerns for Australians are kidding themselves.

Well that’s just bloody un-Australian then isn’t it!

It is absolutely NOT AN OBSCURE section of the Currency Act. I'm 70+ and we were taught this in school. I assume someone didn't.

Well,I mean it is super annoying when someone buys a pack of gum with a $100 note

5:09 the way the says “hot pink pants” with such passion

If someone refused to accept the money offered then you can have the merchandise for no charge because you have offered to pay for it and it has been refused.

It's not a weird law. It's what stops me paying for my parking fines in 5 cent pieces.