Stephen Conroy (Victoria, Australian Labor Party, Deputy Leader of the Government in the Senate) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I seek leave to make a statement in relation to the notice of motion by Senators Allison and Ronaldson on the sexualisation of children in the media.

Leave granted.

I want to put on the record the government’s position in relation to the motion moved by Senator Allison and amendments that the government moved. The government takes community concerns about sexualised images of children in the media seriously. The use of sexualised images of children in magazines, retail catalogues, advertising brochures and the electronic media is a source of concern to many Australians.

Last year the Senate passed a resolution calling for the Australian Communications and Media Authority, ACMA, to report on this issue. The scope of ACMA’s statutory functions are not, however, broad enough for it to address the full breadth of the issue of sexualisation of children. For example, content in the print media and consumer retail catalogues falls clearly outside the scope of the Broadcasting Services Act 1992 and outside ACMA’s responsibilities.

The government supports the proposed establishment of a Senate inquiry into the sexualisation of children to ensure that the issues for all types of media are appropriately addressed. However, the government has some concerns about elements of the proposed terms of reference in this motion before us today for referral of this matter to the Senate Standing Committee on Environment, Communications and the Arts. It is the government’s view that the inclusion of radio in the terms of reference for the inquiry is inappropriate and unnecessary. The majority of community concerns relate to the use of visual images considered to present children in a sexualised manner. This inquiry should concentrate on what needs to be done to protect children in relation to inappropriate visual images.

The government also questions the relevance of including an examination of the sources and beneficiaries of premature sexualisation of children in the media. It is not clear what this is intended to achieve. As I have said, the concern is about the impact of the use of sexualised images on children and the possible impact on their health and wellbeing.

The government also has concerns about the inclusion of specific references to the commercial broadcasting industry codes of practice. As I noted in my opening remarks, the use of sexualised images of children in printed material has been of particular concern, and this type of content is not subject to these codes. Additionally, proposing possible changes to media regulation from the outset may unintentionally limit the scope of the Senate inquiry. It is also the case that advertising, including on television, is subject to specific advertising industry self-regulatory codes of practice which are overseen by the Advertising Standards Bureau.

In conclusion, while the government supports an inquiry into this matter, we have suggested a number of changes to the terms of reference which in our view will make the inquiry more focused and productive.