Philip Ruddock (Berowra, Liberal Party, Attorney-General) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I move:

That this bill be now read a second time.

The  bill which I present today is one that all members of the parliament should support. The aim of the Crimes Legislation Amendment (Child Sex Tourism Offences and Related Measures) Bill 2007 is to ensure that sexual crimes against children committed by Australians overseas are the subject of a comprehensive and up-to-date suite of Commonwealth offences.

Child sex tourism, as a global industry, is recognised by the United Nations as ‘one of the worst contemporary forms of slavery’. Child sex tourism is a serious problem in many less developed countries. Many of these countries lack effective laws or, where laws are in place, the ability or willingness to enforce them.

Unfortunately, Australians play a large part in the child sex industry overseas, particularly in Asian and Pacific Island countries. In 1994, the Crimes Act 1914 was amended to introduce a regime of offences that target those people who engage in this type of conduct or help others to do so. Since their introduction, there have been more than 20 prosecutions against these provisions with approximately 15 convictions.

The existing child sex tourism offences in the Crimes Act cover a variety of conduct by Australian citizens or residents overseas, including engaging in sexual intercourse with a child, inducing a child to have sexual intercourse with a third person and participating in acts of indecency other than sexual intercourse with a child. Other behaviour captured includes acts done in or outside Australia with the intention of benefiting from, or encouraging, any form of the above offences.

The bill relocates the existing offences, currently located in part IIIA of the Crimes Act, to chapter 8 of the Criminal Code. The provisions have been redrafted to reflect the approach taken in the code and current drafting practices.

New measures contained in the bill fill gaps in the current legislative regime and will enhance Australia’s existing child sex tourism regime by creating new grooming, procuring and preparatory offences. These offences are essentially preventative in nature. Their purpose is to give law enforcement agencies and prosecutors the mandate to take action before any child is harmed.

The new grooming and procuring offences are directed against people who are actively engaging with children in ways that will make them more likely to participate in sexual activity. Grooming can include a wide range of behaviour including conduct that encourages a child to believe they have romantic feelings for the adult or desensitising the child to the thought of engaging in sexual activity with the adult. Procuring a person to engage in sexual activity includes encouraging, enticing, recruiting or inducing (whether by threat, promises or otherwise) in relation to that activity. The procuring offences would apply, for example, where a person offered money to a child to engage in sexual acts or promised them some other form of benefit.

The bill will also add new preparatory offences to the child sex tourism regime. The offences are intended to capture a wide range of preparatory conduct that occurs with the intention of preparing or planning to commit an offence involving sexual conduct with a child overseas. Such conduct could include activities such as arranging travel and making a hotel reservation in a well known child sex tourism destination, so long as this behaviour can be linked to an intention to commit an offence against the child sex tourism regime.

The bill will also make changes to a number of penalties with the aim of ensuring consistency in penalties for like offences across the Criminal Code. As a result, offences involving:

• sexual intercourse with a child would carry a penalty of 17 years imprisonment
• sexual conduct with a child would carry a penalty of 15 years imprisonment
• procuring a child would carry a penalty of 15 years imprisonment, and
• grooming a child would carry a penalty of 12 years imprisonment.

The bill introduces new offences making it illegal for Australian citizens and residents to deal with child pornography or child abuse material while overseas. Behaviour relating to child pornography or child abuse material in Australia is currently outlawed by a comprehensive regime of Commonwealth, state and territory offences. The new offences will ensure that the same conduct by Australians overseas is also captured, and will complement the child sex tourism offences.

Under the new provisions, a person will be guilty of an offence if he or she possesses, controls, produces, distributes or obtains child pornography or child abuse material outside Australia. The person will be subject to a maximum penalty of 10 years imprisonment. This penalty is consistent with penalties in state and territory offences relating to similar conduct in Australia.

In line with the child sex tourism provisions, these new offences are intended to fill the gap where a foreign country either has no specific laws dealing with this behaviour or is unable or unwilling to prosecute persons who engage in such behaviour. They will prevent Australian citizens or residents from travelling overseas to collect, produce or distribute child pornography or child abuse material in countries where such material is not illegal or where laws are not enforced. Individuals will no longer be able to avoid prosecution for such behaviour.

Under the proposed scheme, legitimate dealings in such material—for example, for law enforcement purposes—would be protected.

The bill inserts new provisions to provide for the forfeiture of child pornography and child abuse material and any article containing such material, such as a computer or CD ROM, used in the commission of specified sexual offences against children. The provisions provide for the making of a forfeiture order by a court, either, automatically upon a finding of guilt for a Commonwealth sex offence or on application by a constable or prosecutor, where the court is satisfied on the balance of probabilities that such an offence had been committed. Once forfeited, the material or article becomes the property of the Commonwealth and can be destroyed.

The Australian government is committed to protecting children from the threat of sexual abuse. The measures contained in the bill will result in a strengthened child sex tourism regime and send a strong message to Australians contemplating such behaviour overseas. The measures also complement the government’s current initiatives with respect to the protection of Indigenous children in the Northern Territory and the protection of Australian families online. I commend the bill to the House.

Debate (on motion by Ms Plibersek) adjourned.