Tony Zappia (Makin, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Assistant Minister for Medicare) Share this | Hansard source

The Enhancing Online Safety (Non-consensual Sharing of Intimate Images) Bill 2018 prohibits the posting or threatening to post of an intimate image without consent on a social media service, relevant electronic service or designated internet service. It also establishes a complaints objection system to be administered by the eSafety Commissioner. It provides the commissioner with powers to issue a removal notice for offending material. As other speakers from this side of the House have made clear, this legislation is long overdue. Innovation in information and communication technology has changed the way society functions. Almost every facet of life is now transacted via the internet or a similar service. People have instant access to the rest of the world. Innovation has transformed the way we live and, in most cases, for the better. Regrettably, however, innovation can equally be used for bad as be used for good. Unfortunately, often it is. Sometimes it is unintentional, but most times it is deliberate.

The deliberate misuse of information technology has ruined people's lives, whether it's through scamming people out of their life savings; bullying, which has often led to suicide; accessing a person's personal data; identity theft; the online denial of service, effectively sabotaging a business by affecting its internet connections; or the posting of pornographic materials. Finally, there is the matter we are dealing with today: the non-consensual sharing of intimate images, which this bill seeks to address. It is because of the widespread misuse of online information that there is so much widespread mistrust of the government's My Health Record system. It is because so many other systems have been mismanaged and how easy it is to do that for perpetrators who wish to use the internet system for the wrong purposes. For young people, the internet has become particularly problematic, connecting them to undesirables, sometimes leading to bullying at all hours of the day and night and the sharing of intimate images.

I was a member of the inquiry that prepared the report High-wire act: cyber-safety and the youngin 2011, whichtried to address the very issues young people are confronted with each and every day through the use of the internet or cyber systems that we have in this country and around the world. As a member of that committee, I believe that little has changed since 2011 when that report and its 30-odd recommendations were presented. Perpetrators are also always finding new ways to circumvent the safeguards that governments and authorities try to develop. However, when the abuse results in a person being humiliated, shamed and embarrassed to a level that causes long-term psychological harm that can ruin a person's life and a person's relationships, it can be life-threatening. We have reached that point today. When one in five Australians, one in two Australians with a disability and one in two Indigenous Australians have experienced the non-consensual sharing of intimate images, we have a serious problem that must be addressed.

It should have been addressed much sooner, as I alluded to earlier on. Labor attempted to do that in 2015 with a private member's bill. That bill included criminal offences for those who perpetrate such action. It has taken the government three years to do the same. One can only wonder: what was it about those original bills that Labor introduced that the government had a problem with? What didn't the government understand about the fact this was a serious matter that needed to be addressed urgently and that, if criminal sanctions did not apply, any other remedy would be less than satisfactory?

The crossbenchers and others in this parliament all saw the need for this matter to be dealt with, and the government has finally come back to parliament with a bill that seeks to provide criminal penalties. It is only through the provision of criminal penalties that those people who have a mind to offend others by such actions might be prevented from doing so. They might think twice about doing so, because they know that the consequences will be very serious. However, the fact remains that, once material is shared through the internet, it can never be universally retrieved even if the image is subsequently taken offline. We don't know if those who have seen it have in some way copied and made permanent images of it which they will keep so that perhaps in a future occasion they can use those images for whatever sinister reasons they have in mind.

I welcome the introduction of this legislation. As someone who participated in a long inquiry, as I alluded to earlier, with respect to the impact that these kinds of acts can have, particularly on young people, I believe it is a step in the right direction. I do have some reservations about whether this legislation will go far enough. I accept that the penalty provisions are quite adequate, but a couple of matters concern me. The e-Safety Commissioner can issue removal notices requiring images to be removed, and the images have to be removed within 48 hours if a notice is issued. My first concern is that 48 hours of using the internet service is a long time. In 48 hours considerable damage and harm can be done. I would have thought that, if it's possible—and perhaps it's not—the notice should require the immediate removal of the images. I see no reason why that can't be done, but I'd be happy to hear from the government as to why that might not be possible.

My other concern is about how this deals with and manages the problem where people under the age of 18 put the images online. As we have heard from others who have spoken in this debate, it's not always adults that are the perpetrators of these kinds of offences; quite often it's minors who are the perpetrators, as well as being the victims. Again, I'm not sure whether this legislation adequately addresses that situation. The reality, however, is that the legislation is an important step towards having a deterrent in place that will prevent people in the future from abusing the opportunities they have to harm someone through the use of the cybersystems of this country and around the world. For those reasons I support this legislation and commend it to the House.

See this speech in context