Deborah O'Neill (NSW, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Assistant Minister for Innovation) Share this | Hansard source

Labor supports this bill as amended in the House. It is essential that the parliament sends a very clear and specific message to the community that the sharing of intimate images without consent is just not acceptable. Three years after Labor introduced a private member's bill to criminalise image based abuse, the Enhancing Online Safety (Non-consensual Sharing of Intimate Images) Bill 2018 is now finally set to pass and introduce both the civil and the criminal offences that are necessary for image based abuse. Labor welcomes the government coming to the party on the need for a specific criminal offence that sends a strong and clear message to the community that the non-consensual sharing of private sexual material is not acceptable. Labor's commitment to tackling this pernicious form of abuse has been unwavering. We are pleased the government has finally accepted the evidence and followed Labor's lead on this issue.

For years, Labor and community stakeholders have called for a specific criminal offence, and yet, until now, the Turnbull government has maintained that existing criminal law is enough. All this time the government, including the Minister for Communications, has justified the failure to introduce a specific Commonwealth offence for image based abuse on the basis that there's an existing offence under section 474.17 of the Criminal Code for the misuse of telecommunications services to menace, harass or cause offence. The minister and I had a lengthy back and forth on this very question the last time this bill was before the Senate. The Turnbull government has wasted a great deal of time, insisting that Australia doesn't need a specific criminal offence for image based abuse. We're pleased they have finally accepted the evidence, changed their tune and followed Labor's lead on this issue.

Labor will support the bill, as amended in the House, to introduce criminal penalties, given the amendments adopt Labor's clear and longstanding position on this issue. In October 2015, Labor first introduced a private member's bill into the parliament to criminalise the sharing of private sexual material without consent. Labor took a policy to criminalise image based abuse to the 2016 federal election, undertaking to do so within the first 100 days of being elected. In October 2016, Labor reintroduced its private member's bill into the current parliament, but the bill lapsed in 2017 because the government refused to call it on for debate. In June 2017, Labor moved a second reading amendment calling on the Turnbull government to criminalise the sharing of intimate images without consent.

RMIT research indicates that four in five Australians agree that it should be a crime to share sexual or nude images without permission and that there is broad agreement within the Australian community as to the seriousness of the issue regardless of whether someone has experienced it personally. The experts agree that the sharing of intimate images without consent is a serious form of abuse that can cause significant and ongoing harm. A number of Labor MPs have prosecuted this issue over the years, in particular Terri Butler MP, Tim Watts MP, Clare O'Neil MP and Mark Dreyfus QC, MP.

Labor pays tribute to the efforts of a range of stakeholders in the community. With the passage of the bill through parliament, it brings the victims of image based abuse some comfort as they see the results of their advocacy. We trust this bill will help protect Australians from this serious form of abuse.