In May 2016, Nauru reformed its criminal code and decriminalised homosexuality. The reformed laws replace those set out in the 1899 Criminal Code of Queensland.

Previously, the Criminal Code of Queensland in its application to Nauru on 1 July 1921, under Chapter XXII, Section 211, addressed homosexual behaviors as “Indecent practices between Males”, stating that, whether these are performed in public or private, they are punishable with imprisonment with forced labour for three years. Under the same Chapter, in Section 208, the Code addressed “Unnatural Offences”, which include “carnal knowledge” of any person in ways that go “against the order of nature”, and are punishable with fourteen years of imprisonment and hard labour. Even the mere “attempt” to commit “Unnatural Offences” was punishable with seven years in prison with hard labour under Section 209. 
Therefore, while homosexual relations between males were manifestly outlawed, relations between females are not, but section 208 left space for a wide array of interpretations.