The Offence of Throwing Objects at Vehicles in New South Wales

Northern Beaches Police Area Command posted a 26 May 2026 message to its Facebook page calling on parents to “please talk” to their children about how throwing objects at cars is not only a dangerous thing to do but is also a serious criminal offence that can potentially carry harsh punishment.

Indeed, the New South Wales offence known as throwing rocks and other objects at vehicles and vessels carries up to 5 years gaol time.

The warning

The Telegraph reported last Friday, 12 June 2026, that NSW police had put out this warning, as there has been a rise in teenagers “egging” vehicles around the northern beaches. The post further warns that it doesn’t matter what the object hurled at a car is – “water balloons, eggs or rocks” – they can all cause damage to the vehicle or injury to people, and such behaviour can even result in death.

“Young people think it’s fun, but the law — including the Crimes Act — says otherwise,” the warning from police continues, and the post also provides a link to the section of the NSW legislation that contains the offence just to make the message clear.

Police in the local area have become aware that teenagers have been throwing objects at moving cars, as community social media pages have been receiving an increased number of posts and comments about youths conducting such acts at nighttime, Northern Beaches Police commander John Duncan told the Murdoch press.

This criminal behaviour has been occurring in particular around skateparks on Garigal land in the Avalon Beach and Mona Vale area, and superintendent Duncan further explained that the warning had been issued after there were reports of kids throwing water ballons and eggs in the vicinity of North Curl Curl.

Two recent incidents have also involved drivers stopping their cars after being hit by an object that had been thrown and “physical confrontation” had occurred as a result.

The crime of throwing objects at vehicles

Section 49A of the Crimes Act 1900 (NSW) contains the offence of throwing rocks and other objects at vehicles or vessels. The crime carries a maximum penalty of up to 5 years imprisonment.

To establish the offence, the prosecution must prove beyond a reasonable doubt that an individual intentionally threw an object or dropped one on or towards a vehicle that was on a road or railway, or a vessel that was on navigable waters. It must further be shown that a person was in the vehicle or vessel and that the conduct risked the safety of “any person”.

The law also pertains to a vehicle or vessel that is stationary at the time the object was thrown or dropped.

However, in terms of the prosecution of the offence, “it is not necessary to prove” that the individual who conducted the wrongdoing was aware that their conduct was risking the safety of another and neither does it have to be shown that the object actually made contact with the vehicle or vessel.

Subsection 49A(4) of the Act stipulates that to “throw includes propel”, while in terms of what a vehicle can be, this includes a motor vehicle, a train, a tram and a bicycle, and the crime even applies when someone throws an object at “a vehicle drawn by an animal or an animal ridden by a person”.

As for how “road” is defined, it relates to the definition contained in subsection 4(1) of the Roads Transport Act 2013 (NSW), which “means an area that is open to or used by the public and is developed for, or has as one of its main uses, the driving or riding of motor vehicles”.

Defences against throwing objects at vehicles

There are several defences that individuals charged under section 49A of the Crimes Act can argue in a NSW court.

A defendant charged with throwing rocks at cars can raise the defence of mental impairment or cognitive impairment contained in section 28 of the Mental Health and Cognitive Impairment Forensic Provisions Act 2020 (NSW), which involves them putting to the court that they were not criminally responsible, as they’d been suffering mental impairment or cognitive impairment or both.

Another statutory defence that can be raised against a count under section 49A is self-defence, which is contained in section 418 of the Crimes Act. Self-defence can be raised if the defendant claims that they were trying to prevent harm against themselves or someone else, or they were trying to avoid the unlawful deprivation of their own liberty or another individual’s.

Self-defence can also be raised in terms of when a defendant was trying to prevent the destruction of property or to stop unlawful trespass. However, this defence cannot be raised in terms of these two latter reasons if the defendant had caused death or serious injury to the other person.

In terms of throwing rocks or other objects at vehicles, self-defence might come into play if an individual had been driving a car in the direction of the defendant and they responded by throwing an object to try and prevent themselves from being hit by the oncoming vehicle.

The defence of duress can also be raised against this charge. Duress relates to circumstances in which a defendant claims that they perpetrated their wrongdoing in order to prevent the threat of harm against themselves or someone else. In order for this defence to hold, it must be shown that the threat of harm was serious enough to warrant the breaking of the law.

A further defence open to a section 49A charge is that of necessity. This defence involves the defendant arguing that they perpetrated a crime because they were trying to avoid an immediate and much greater harm or danger. Necessity involves arguing that the usually illegal action was justified as it was the only way to prevent the larger peril.

Punishing attempted assaults

Passed on 16 May 2008, the Crimes Amendment (Rock Throwing) Bill 2008 inserted the crime of throwing rocks or other objects into section 49A of the Crimes Act and this law was progressed by the NSW Labor Iemma government. The legislation was introduced into parliament by then NSW attorney general John Hatzistergos.

Hatzistergos told parliament during his 7 May 2008 second reading speech on the bill that “the act of throwing a rock at a vehicle is not only cowardly and stupid” but it is also “downright dangerous”, and his government wasn’t going to “tolerate that type of idiotic behaviour” anymore, and he added that the bill was responding to “well-founded community concerns about the abhorrent practice”.

The then NSW chief lawmaker outlined that while some teens consider it a “silly prank”, a recent 2008 incident had involved a then 21-year-old Nicole Miller spending four days in hospital in a coma, after she received severe head injuries following the car she was a passenger in having been hit by a rock, while it was travelling across Wodi Wodi land in the vicinity of the NSW town of Kiama.

“Nicole Miller suffered terrible injuries and remains traumatised by the attack,” said Hatzistergos, and the then AG went on to add that there had only been reports the day prior to the bill’s introduction that involved “a two-kilogram rock allegedly” having been thrown at and striking “a car in Fairfield, causing substantial damage”.

The then NSW attorney general added that there were numerous assault charges that already apply to throwing rocks at people and injuring them, with maximum penalties carrying from up to 5 to up to 25 years, but this new offence was to apply to situations where objects are thrown at people in cars, which ultimately risks the serious assault or injury of others.

“People should not escape serious penalties simply because they did not succeed in injuring someone,” insisted Hatzistergos. “The act of deliberately throwing an object at a car when there is potential to injure someone should be subject to criminal sanctions.”

“The bill creates an offence to fill this gap by criminalising a situation where a person intentionally throws or drops a rock on a vehicle or vessel, even if the person fails to cause damage to property or harm to another person.”