Helen Polley (Tasmania, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

The Criminal Code Amendment (Deepfake Sexual Material) Bill 2024 is a fundamentally important bill tackling the exploitation and the targeting of mostly women within our society. The bill strengthens existing Commonwealth criminal offences and creates new offences to respond to the online harm caused by deepfake pornographic material and other artificially generated, sexually explicit material.

Digitally created or altered sexually explicit material is more and more common in our digital world. It refers to content which is shared without consent. This behaviour is a damaging and deeply distressing form of abuse unfortunately suffered by too many Australians. It can only be described as insidious behaviour which is degrading, humiliating and dehumanising for victims, especially for women and girls. As a mother and a grandmother, I'm appalled at those who try to do such harm to another human being. It is hateful behaviour which must be stamped out, so the Albanese government is fully committed to doing so.

The creation of these images has significant and lasting effects on a victim's mental health and forever changes their lives. Young people who are the targets of deepfake images being created are robbed of their childhood. The perpetrators of these disgusting and disgraceful acts do not have the right to steal the innocence of girls and young women, yet it is unfortunately happening too often—several examples of which I will discuss shortly.

Stamping out child—

Debate interrupted.