Australians have been issued a fresh warning following strict changes to Indonesia’s criminal code, which bans sex outside of marriage.
The controversial laws passed the nation’s parliament earlier this week and will apply to Indonesians and foreigners living in the country. Tourists will not be exempt from the ruling.
On Thursday, the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade updated its advice to reflect the changes.
“Indonesian parliament has passed revisions to its criminal code, which includes penalties for cohabitation and sex outside of marriage,” an update posted to the Smart Traveller website said.
However, it noted the revisions would not come into force for three years.
The travel update comes after the Coalition’s immigration spokesman called for the travel advice to be changed to avoid Australians falling into “very unfortunate situations”.
“We need to make sure everyone is aware of this new law, because the last thing we would want to see is people caught doing something that by Indonesian … law they shouldn’t be doing. Even when what they’re doing is perfectly legal [in Australia],” he told 2GB on Wednesday.
“Travellers beware … because otherwise we could see some very unfortunate situations where we have to provide consular assistance to people who unwittingly or unknowingly do the wrong thing.”
Under the new criminal code, sex outside marriage will be punishable by a year in jail and cohabitation by six months.
More than 1 million Australians visit Indonesia each year with many jetting to Bali for everything from yoga retreats to family holidays.
The overall advice for Australians travelling to Indonesia is to exercise a high degree of caution.
But this includes a number of other risks, including the ongoing risk of terrorism and the eruption of Mount Semeru in East Java on 4 December.
