Christopher Back (WA, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

I thank Senator Waters for presenting the report of the Environment and Communications References Committee in her capacity as chair of the committee. By way of history, this inquiry into the access by children to internet pornography came before the Senate in the 44th Parliament, co-sponsored by then Senator Joe Bullock from Western Australia and me at the request of interested parties, particularly concerned parent groups. With the lapsing of the 44th Parliament, the matter was then raised with the committee in the 45th Parliament.

I thank the committee for its indulgence in allowing this report to proceed. Several significant submissions had been put to the committee by concerned people around Australia. Committee members accepted the view that, although time did not permit the committee to have hearings around Australia, it would be logical that the secretariat be directed to prepare a report based on those submissions. I thank the chair, Senator Waters and, as an original mover of the motion, I particularly thank the secretariat of this committee for the excellent work they undertook in preparing the report that is before us today.

The issue of access to pornography by children, particularly online pornography, is of deep concern and interest to all of us, whether you are simply a community member or whether you are a parent or, indeed—in your case, Acting Deputy President Gallacher, and mine now—a grandparent. Of course, there are state and federal matters to be considered, and the recommendations to which I will refer in a moment pick up the joint responsibility of federal and state entities in protecting children against the vicious and heinous crimes associated with pornography as they affect children—state jurisdictions, federal jurisdictions.

Many of us in this parliament, be it in the other place or in the Senate, have a deep interest and concern, particularly as it relates to the ignorance of parents and of children. To support that I will simply make the comment of my colleague the member for Forrest, Ms Nola Marino, who for some years now has been conducting seminars in schools with the concurrence of teachers, administrators, parents and children. She will go through, usually supported by local police personnel, and I cannot count the number of times Ms Marino has said to me that either on the day after or within days of such seminars parents or the children themselves will say that they did not realise they were being groomed for sex as a result of the activities that have been undertaken by these terrible people.

So, perhaps I can go to the four recommendations that came out of this inquiry. Again, I want to record our appreciation to those who put in submissions, upon which the secretariat and the committee drew heavily in preparing the report and its recommendations. The first is:

The committee recommends that the Australian government commission dedicated research into the exposure of Australian children and young people to online pornography and other pornographic material.

And I will go immediately to the second recommendation before I comment on them, which is:

Following completion of the research referred to in recommendation 1, the committee recommends that the Australian government commission an expert panel to make recommendations to the government regarding possible policy measures. The panel should include experts in a range of relevant fields, including child protection, children's online safety, education, law enforcement and trends in internet usage.

It is not often in this place that the very suggestion that a report might be tabled seems to prompt the government of the day. Only this afternoon we had the announcement through Minister Cash of the government appointing a new eSafety Commissioner, Ms Julie Inman Grant, and the announcement of the fact that the office will be renamed the Office of the eSafety Commissioner, reflecting the fact that the role will be extended to take on responsibility for online safety issues affecting adults as well as children, without in any way diminishing the importance of the role and the focus on children and bringing into that whole space the issue of cyberbullying material, which we know is targeting and is harmful to the Australian child. That will remain the focus of this commissioner's role.

In supporting that, I will quote from a release of the Law Council of Australia today in which the council is welcoming the announcement by the government of new initiatives to tackle, in their words, 'the 21st century scourge'—in this case of revenge pornography—and it has the support of the legal sector. That release goes on to make further comment about that. So, it is wonderful that we are focusing in several fora to do this.

I will go to the third of the four recommendations. As I mentioned earlier, it relates to drawing the states and territories into the report and its recommendations. Recommendation 3 is:

The committee recommends that state and territory governments consider the adequacy of:

The committee heard in evidence, through submissions, of the heinous circumstance of a child perpetrating sexual activities upon another child in a location in which children were being protected, only then to learn, upon investigation, that the child had seen the pornography that they were now practising on the victim child in the company of their father whilst the father and the child were watching pornographic material. Where have we got to in this space, in this country, when an adult—a parent—sits their vulnerable child down to watch pornography as part of some social interaction? And then to see the circumstance where that child—with no understanding at all, of course, as we all know, about the actions they are taking—plays out those fantasies on another child. So, those who do not think this issue is real need to reflect very carefully on that instance that was presented to us in a submission.

The final recommendation probably comes from the sort of ignorance that somebody like myself has in this space, because we obviously did not grow up in the internet age, the electronic age. It is one that we join, it is one that we go into and visit, whereas we know that children and young people of today do not visit the internet; it is of them. Recommendation 4 is:

The committee recommends that the Australian government consider the adequacy of the information available to parents, guardians and teachers on how to keep children safe online, including whether existing resources such as the Office of the eSafety Commissioner's iParent website can be promoted more effectively.

The thought behind this recommendation is that if parents, grandparents, carers or those with responsibility for children have a concern, to whom or where do they turn to get the tools to keep safe the child or children under their care?

I commend the report again to the Senate. In conclusion I just wish to reference our very good friend and colleague Ms Jo Lindgren, who, through the 44th Parliament, was Senator Jo Lindgren. She rang me in advance of the decision being made for the committee to progress and said, 'Chris, I've gone back into the classroom since I've returned from the Senate, and you would not believe the level of pornography in playgrounds, in classrooms, and you would not believe the level of language to which children have stooped, very often in total ignorance of the words they're using.' Jo Lindgren's appeal to me was, 'Please, whatever you can do, get the committee to proceed towards a report.' Again, I thank the chair, Senator Waters, and I commend the report to the Senate.

Question agreed to.

Debate adjourned.