Patrick Gorman (Perth, Australian Labor Party, Assistant Minister to the Prime Minister) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I move:

That this bill be now read a second time.

Today, I introduce the Electoral Legislation Amendment (Electoral Communications) Bill 2024.

This bill implements recommendations of the multipartisan Joint Standing Committee on Electoral Matters (JSCEM) to introduce truth-in-advertising legislation modelled on the existing laws in South Australia. It also delivers on the government's commitment to improving the transparency and accountability of our electoral system.

Public confidence in Australian elections is essential to preserve the legitimacy of our democratic processes.

Democracies around the world are increasingly facing threats that undermine public trust and promote cynical disengagement with democracy.

Perhaps the most concerning is from misinformation and disinformation.

Advancements in technology, like artificial intelligence (AI), mean it is easier than ever to create and share misinformation and disinformation.

While these technologies have a significant positive impact in our society, when used maliciously they have the potential to mislead voters and undermine the legitimacy of our electoral processes.

Australia's electoral system is strong. But it is not immune to the nefarious activities that we have seen play out in elections overseas.

Australia's electoral laws must evolve to maintain public trust and protect the integrity of our electoral system.

This bill will create new civil penalty provisions that protect against inaccurate and misleading statements being purported as fact.

These provisions are modelled on the framework that has worked successfully in South Australian state elections for the last 40 years.

The bill will also create new civil penalty provisions to address the threat of the misuse of AI in electoral processes.

This will apply to artificial intelligence deepfakes and voice-clones.

The bill introduces specific exemptions to ensure the offences are targeted and proportionate.

These prohibitions will not apply to expressions of opinion or regulate any private communication, satirical content, art, educational material, academic content, professional news media or anything outside of a federal election or referendum.

These prohibitions will apply only to campaign material already subject to regulation under the Electoral Act. These are electoral advertisements and promotional items like pamphlets, posters and how-to-vote cards.

Only the person ultimately responsible for the communication will be liable for any breach of these prohibitions. The prohibitions will not apply to broadcasters, publishers or those who simply share the content.

The bill establishes an electoral communications panel to administer these new civil penalty provisions.

The panel will be a secondary statutory body within the Australian Electoral Commission. This recognises and preserves the Australian Electoral Commission's neutrality and ensures the operations of the panel are fully legally independent.

Transparency of use of a rtificial i ntelligence (AI)

The government is taking action to ensure the safe and responsible adoption of artificial intelligence in Australia, coordinating a whole-of-government response to the opportunities and challenges of AI, including regulating the use of AI in elections.

This bill expands existing electoral authorisation requirements. Under the new requirements, certain electoral matter will need to disclose whether digital technology was used to substantially or entirely create or modify its content. This aligns with the interim report from the Senate Select Committee on Adopting AI, such as implementing a credentialing of AI generated content.

Subject to the passage of the bill, these amendments to authorisation requirements will be in force for the next federal election to help voters make an informed choice.

Media blackout period

This bill will remove the media blackout period that prohibits electoral or referendum matter being broadcast on television or radio in the three days before, and on, voting day.

Removing the blackout period will provide consistency across the media sector and responds to the Joint Standing Committee on Electoral Matters' findings.

Conclusion

In conclusion, the government remains committed to strengthening the transparency of our electoral system and maintaining voter confidence in elections and referendums.

I commend the bill.

Debate adjourned.