Andrew Wallace (Fisher, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

On behalf of the Standing Committee on Social Policy and Legal Affairs, I present the committee's report, incorporating a dissenting report entitled Protecting the age of innocence: report of the inquiry into age verification for online wagering and online pornography together with the minutes of proceedings.

Report made a parliamentary paper in accordance with standing order 39(e).

by leave—I'm pleased to present this report, Protecting the age of innocence, the report of the House of Representatives Standing Committee on Social Policy and Legal Affairs' inquiry into age verification for online wagering and online pornography.

There can be no doubt that we are increasingly living in an online world, and no-one is more active online than our children and young people.

Fifteen- to 17-year-olds have the highest percentage of internet usage in the country, according to the Australian Bureau of Statistics.

The internet offers our children new ways to learn, play, and connect with their friends and family, but it has also made them vulnerable to new threats. All over the country, parents are rightly asking themselves if they really know what their children are doing online. With the widespread use of mobile phones and tablets outside the home, the truth is that many do not.

During this inquiry, the committee heard that young people today are increasingly accessing or being exposed to pornography on the internet. One submission cited Australian research indicating that 69 per cent of males and 23 per cent of females had first viewed pornography at the age of 13 or younger.

In many cases children's exposure to pornography is unintentional or outside parents' control. Parents, teachers, and others recounted firsthand experiences of children in their care encountering pornography online through friends or schoolmates, or as a result of totally innocuous web searches.

This pornography being accessed even by primary school students is much more extreme and, in some cases, more violent than ever before. We're not talking about the occasional discarded Playboy magazine of the past. The committee heard about a barrage of pornography accessible free of charge online which increasingly portrays sexual violence, non-consensual behaviour and highly distorted gender roles. Disturbingly, it is the pornography that portrays this kind of behaviour which is among the most popular.

The impact this material is having on our children and our young people is extremely concerning.

The committee heard how exposure to this extreme content is reinforcing harmful gender stereotypes, contributing to unrealistic understandings of sex and sexuality, and even normalising sexual violence.

In the words of Ms Julie Inman-Grant, the eSafety Commissioner, 'There are deep and legitimate concerns about how ready access to online pornography might impact the social sexualisation of an entire generation.'

More broadly, the committee heard about exposure to pornography contributing to poor mental health, anxiety about body image, eating disorders, reduced academic performance, erectile dysfunction, feelings of guilt and embarrassment about sex, and even systemic issues such as violence against women.

In relation to online wagering, the committee received fewer submissions. Nonetheless, we heard about how exposure at a young age can lead to problem gambling later in life.

Though not directly in the scope of this inquiry, we also heard that children are increasingly being exposed to simulated gambling through what are called 'loot boxes' in video games, which can act as a gateway to other forms of gambling.

As many as 160,000 Australian adults suffer right now, today, severe problems in their lives as a result of gambling. Up to a further 350,000 Australian adults currently display gambling behaviours which may make them vulnerable to problem gambling in the future. Problem gambling is strongly linked to increased financial problems and bankruptcy, increased likelihood of family breakdown, substance abuse, anxiety and depression, and even suicide. We must prevent children from heading down this path.

To say that there is a great deal of public concern about these issues would be a dramatic understatement. The committee received over 3,000 contributions, mostly from individual members of the public. More often than not, these submissions expressed Australians' horror and dismay at the material being accessed by young people, and the impact it is having on their lives. The stories of the harm being done to our vulnerable children were frequently distressing to hear. It is critical that we find more effective ways to protect our children online.

This inquiry considered the potential role for age verification technology to provide some of that protection by making it much harder for children and young people to access online wagering and pornography.

Online age verification is not a new concept. However, the committee heard that the technology for online age verification has become more sophisticated. There are now a range of age verification services available which can balance effectiveness and ease of use with the privacy, safety, and security that Australians demand.

We heard about methods which include verifying a user's age against a government issued identity document or estimating a user's age using biometric data. Another method involves using a retail card where the user's identification is sighted over the counter at the point of purchase and no identifying information is retained. These methods and others can be mixed or offered as choices to give users the flexibility and the reassurance of privacy and security they need.

The committee recognises that none of these methods are perfect. Age verification is by no means a silver bullet, and protecting children and young people from online harm requires government, industry, and the community to work together across a range of fronts. However, we must not let the perfect be the enemy of the good. Based on the evidence we received, the committee concluded that age verification can create a significant barrier to prevent young people—and particularly young children—being exposed to harmful online content. It won't solve the problem overnight, but it will dramatically reduce accidental exposure and make it far harder for even determined older children to get access.

The committee has therefore made six recommendations in support of the implementation of online age verification in Australia. The committee recommended that the Digital Transformation Agency lead the development of standards for online age verification. These standards will help to ensure that online age verification is accurate and effective and that the process for legitimate consumers is easy, safe, and secure.

In particular, no personal information other than the user's age-related eligibility should be shared between the age-verification provider and the age-restricted site, and the storage of personal information should be minimised so as not to create a 'honeypot' of sensitive data attractive to crime syndicates.

The committee also recommended that the Digital Transformation Agency develop an exchange to support the provision of accredited third-party age verification in Australia.

In relation to pornography, the committee recommended that the eSafety Commissioner lead the development of a roadmap for introducing mandatory age verification for online pornographic material. This should be part of a broader, holistic approach to address the risks and harms associated with online pornography, but it is a vital part. I urge the government to take note of the committee's recommendations in this area and ensure that the Office of the eSafety Commissioner is adequately resourced to carry out this work.

For wagering, the committee recommended quite simply that the Australian government implement a regime of mandatory age verification alongside the existing identity verification requirements.

The committee also recommended the development of educational resources for parents and consideration of options for restricting access to loot boxes in video games, including though the use of age verification.

The committee believes that together these recommendations will contribute to the safer online environment for children and young people we desperately need.

In closing, I again acknowledge the strong public interest in this inquiry and on behalf of the committee thank all of the individuals and organisations who shared their views with the committee.

This is not rocket science. We place age restrictions on this kind of material in the offline world for a reason. It is harmful for children and young people, and they should not have access to it. We need to ensure that the age restrictions that rightly apply to content or services offline in the physical world are also enforced online. Put simply, what is illegal in the physical world must be illegal in the online world.

I'd like to thank members of the committee for the work with which they have assisted me and the secretariat. I want to acknowledge in particular the member for Newcastle. Whilst technically there is a dissenting report, the practical effect of it is that there are only a number of additional comments that the member for Newcastle is making, and I want to thank her for the bipartisan approach that she's taken and her other members have taken in this regard.

I commend the report to the House.

Sharon Claydon (Newcastle, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

by leave—I t hank the chair of our committee for those earlier comments . They are correct : whilst Labor is not making a dissenting report, we wish to add some additional comments to the committee's work. As deputy chair of the Standing Committee on Social Policy and Legal Affairs , I acknowledge the strong bipartisan support there is in this place for keeping children and young people safe online. Labor members of the committee support work to protect children and young people from harmful e ffects of online pornography and gambling. These harms are real and cause a great level of concern in our community.

Labor members of the committee understand that we live in an era where technology e volves rapidly and where many children have greater facility with technology than their parents and carers. In this environment, a holistic, multi faceted and layered approach to protecting children and young people online is an ongoing necessity. Such an approach includes adult supervision ; technological access prevention measures ; and the education of children and adults alike. A multilayered approach is necessary because the fact is that there is no control mechanism that is 100 per cent effective at all times.

Labor members of the committee acknowledge that there is no silver bullet for addressing online harm. We appreciate that age verification should not be seen as a panacea. We understand that age verification is still a nascent field and we recognise that further review and research is needed if age verification is ever to be successfully implemented or provide a workable solution. But it is imperative that we explore and do our best to develop potential measures for keeping kids safe online. That is why Labor members of the committee support the development of a road map for the implementation of age verification technology as well as the legislative framework that would support it, subject to further research and review.

Labor's position is consistent with the Australian government's eSafety Commissioner. In a 9 December 2019 blog , available on the website of the Office of the eSafety Commissioner, the commissioner states :

… eSafety has supported the implementation of age verification technology, as well as the legislative framework that would support it — subject to further research and review.

Labor members of the committee accept that without adequate research and review any new system might fail to address serious issues of safety, data security, privacy, and freedom of expression , and i t might well fail to win public trust or even be effective as a measure for keeping children safe online.

We note that after years of work and millions of pounds expended on its proposal to introduce age verification for online pornography, the UK government announced that it will not be proceeding with it . This demonstrates how complicated it is to get age verification right. Labor members of the committee regard further research and review to be intrinsic to recommendation No. 3 in this committee report, which recommends the development of a road map ; a program of consultation ; activities for awareness raising and education ; and recommendations for complementary measures.

I'd like to make a brief mention of the loo t boxes that the chair , the member for Fisher , referred to previously. The Labor members of the committee did note at the time that the terms of reference of thi s inquiry did not reference loot boxes and that the key stakeholders did not have an opportunity to provide written submissions or oral evidence to the inquiry in relation to loot boxes. Labor members of the committee consider, therefore, that any work on option s to restrict access to elements of computer and video games should be done now in consultation with industry and stakeholders.

In conclusion, the Labor members of the committee support the recommendations of this inquiry, and Labor will look closely at what the eSafety Commissioner can come up with to address this difficult but very important issue. We consider that, given the amount of work needed to inform the approach to age verification, it is also imperative that work on other initiatives to strengthen online safety is done in tandem. To that end, we thank submitters for providing suggestions for other measures and initiatives to improve online safety and we encourage the government to reclassify and release the report of the expert working group, convened by the eSafety Commissioner and participated in by industry, so the broad range of stakeholders committed to improving online safety may have the benefit of this work.

Finally, I too wish to acknowledge the work of the committee. I thank the chair for his very measured approach in the inquiry and certainly my thanks to the secretariat, as well as the many individuals and organisations that made submissions or appeared as witnesses before the inquiry. Thank you for your input, your engagement, your expertise and your advocacy on this very serious issue in our society.

Andrew Wallace (Fisher, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I move:

That the House take note of the report.

Debate adjourned.