Julie Collins (Franklin, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is to the Minister for Home Affairs. Will the minister update the House on the government’s proposed reforms to child sexual exploitation laws?

Brendan O'Connor (Gorton, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Home Affairs) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I thank the member for Franklin for her question and her concern for such a serious and important matter. It is the duty of all governments to protect their nation’s children and, wherever possible, it is the duty of all to protect children around the world. That is why the government is proposing to comprehensively reform Commonwealth criminal offences relating to all forms of child exploitation. These reforms will ensure that all behaviour constituting a sexual offence when committed against Australian children is also criminalised when committed by Australians overseas. These reforms will strengthen child sex tourism laws.

There will be new offences for the grooming and procuring of children for sex overseas and an offence of preparing to commit a child sex tourism offence. These offences will ensure that police do not have to wait until the offender leaves Australia, endangering children in a destination country, in order to prosecute them. New aggravated offences will also be introduced, increasing penalties for offenders who exploit a position of trust or a child victim who has a cognitive impairment. Offenders will be able to be prosecuted for persistent sexual abuse of a child overseas, in recognition that the majority of violent acts against children are perpetrated by people who are part of their lives—in their family, in their schools or in care and justice systems—and are perpetrated on a regular basis for an extended period of time.

The proposed reforms will also ensure that child sexual exploitation is prevented, investigated and prosecuted, whether it is committed online, through the post or using mobile phones. Child pornography hurts children over and over again. The production of images involves the initial abuse of child victims. The subsequent distribution of the pornography amplifies the original harm. So we are increasing the maximum penalties for online child pornography from 10 to 15 years imprisonment. Child pornography is also increasingly a transnational crime, with networks facilitated by the anonymity of the internet. This was demonstrated in a horrific way by the global child pornography ring identified during Operation Achilles, an Australian led international operation. This is why we are introducing new offences relating to child pornography networks that carry a maximum penalty of 25 years imprisonment.

These new offences take into account the operational experience of the Australian Federal Police, changes to the way in which technology is being used to sexually exploit children and best practice domestically and internationally. I can say that there has been consultation on these reforms. That consultation process has now ended. A number of submissions were received, including from state and territory governments, Child Wise and Save the Children. Child Wise was instrumental in lobbying the federal government to enact the first child sex tourism laws in 1994. In their submission, Bernadette McMenamin, CEO of Child Wise, states that she ‘applauds the federal government for producing such an innovative approach to the law enforcement and prosecution of child sex tourism offences’. Existing child sex tourism offences were introduced over 14 years ago. The regime needs to be updated to ensure that we protect our children here and overseas. These laws will respond to this very important challenge.

Kevin Rudd (Griffith, Australian Labor Party, Prime Minister) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Mr Speaker, I ask that further questions be placed on the Notice Paper.