Paul Fletcher (Bradfield, Liberal Party, Minister for Communications, Urban Infrastructure, Cities and the Arts) Share this | Hansard source

I move:

That the amendments be agreed to.

This is the final stage in a process under which the Morrison government is giving effect to a commitment we took to the 2019 election that we would legislate an online safety act, which would consolidate and build on the very significant reforms we have made in the area of online safety since our Liberal-National government first came to power in 2013. We introduced and passed legislation to establish what was then called the Children's eSafety Commissioner and established a scheme to deal with the cyberbullying of Australian children. That scheme has worked effectively. We subsequently expanded the responsibilities of the office and changed its title to be the eSafety Commissioner, with responsibility for matters relating to online safety concerning all Australians. We passed legislation to deal with the terrible problem of the unauthorised sharing of intimate images. When that occurs, victims find it an absolutely devastating thing. And it is something that women overwhelmingly are the victims of. That has also been an effective regime. We introduced legislation following the abhorrent Christchurch mosque attack, which involved live streaming of the murder of over 50 people—absolutely abhorrent and appalling. We introduced legislation to deal with abhorrent violent material online, and that's a matter that the eSafety Commissioner has had responsibility for for some time now.

In the bill that has now passed the Senate and that previously passed the House, we've added extra provisions, including the establishment of a scheme to deal with the serious cyberabuse of Australian adults. We are continuing to improve the protections and the resources that the eSafety Commissioner has. This is about assisting Australians to have the protection of the rule of law when they interact in the digital town square, just as people rightly expect, and have the benefit of, the rule of law and its protections when they interact in the physical town square. The government will be supporting the amendments that were made in the Senate last night.

I also want to take this opportunity to make a statement about the way that the eSafety Commissioner will deal with its code-making power and the approach it will take to prioritising matters to be the subject of codes. It's the primary responsibility of the digital technology industry to create products and services that Australians can use safely. That's why, under the bill that's before the House now, sections of the industry will be required to create new and strengthened industry codes which meet the government's expectations on behalf of the Australian community to keep users of online services safe. Those codes may require service providers to provide end users with access to technological solutions to help them limit access to class 1 and class 2 material. They may also require industry to provide customers with the option of subscribing to a filtered internet carriage service. eSafety will develop and release a position paper to guide code development. The paper will outline expectations, setting clear boundaries for industry on minimum requirements for what eSafety wishes to see in the codes. Through this process, as well as in the annual publication of regulatory priorities, eSafety will focus on the most harmful material as a priority.

One of the reasons we're taking a risk-informed approach is to support industry to focus its efforts towards products that have a higher chance of facilitating harm. The government understands this is a significant task for the industry, but it's an important one. It's part of the legislative scheme and we expect the technology industry to step up its game to make sure that its products are safe. I commend the amendments to the House.

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