In New South Wales, extreme provocation can be used as a ‘partial defence’ to a charge of murder. If a person charged with murder was acting in response to extreme provocation, he or she will be found guilty of manslaughter rather than murder (Crimes Act 1900, Section 23(1)). The defence of provocation does not exist in relation to assaults or other violent offences. The law concerning provocation as a defence to murder was substantially altered in 2014 and does not apply to murders alleged to have been committed before 13 June 2014. The legislation Under Section 23 of the Crimes Act 1900 , a jury is to acquit an accused of murder and find them guilty of manslaughter if: The act causing death was done in response to extreme provocation; The act was done in response to conduct towards the accused; and The conduct was a serious indictable offence; The conduct caused the accused to lose self-control; and The conduct of the deceased could have caused an ordinary person to lose self-control to the extent of intending to kill or inflict grievous bodily harm on the deceased. Conduct does not amount to extreme provocation if it was limited to a non-violent sexual advance or if the accused incited the conduct as an excuse to use violence against the deceased. Read More on The Defence of Provocation NSW