Katie Allen (Higgins, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

I rise today to support the Online Safety (Transitional Provisions and Consequential Amendments) Bill 2021 not only as the member for Higgins but as a concerned mother and former paediatrician. The last decade has seen the internet become an increasingly crucial centrepiece in all of our lives. It's brought us together for work, to learn and to connect more than ever. In this light, it is now critical, more than ever, that we work together to ensure the internet is as safe as possible so that everyone can enjoy the benefits of being connected without fear of the sometimes real risks of online connectivity.

The internet generally and social media specifically are forms of communication that have been in transition. In some ways the net can be seen as the Wild West, with lots of opportunities—but with opportunities come unregulated challenges. The job of government is to get the balance right in legislation, and that includes putting online safety at the heart of decision-making but enabling opportunities so the world can flourish from the benefits of these online opportunities. This bill seeks to combat the evolving use of the internet in facilitating abusive social interactions, including the distribution of intimate images and cyberabuse, by amending offences in the Criminal Code which are specifically intended to prevent, deter and sanction—as well as educate and draw attention to the criminality of—this conduct.

Many of us here in this chamber have heard stories about this, either from the news or our constituents, or may even have been affected ourselves. Some of us have fallen victim to some of these horrendous acts. As a parent, I look to the next generation, who are so incredibly reliant on digital connectivity for all things, from social life to study to work. But now it's reached right through the community—everyone from every generation—with more than 90 per cent of Australians connecting every day. When abuse through these services happens, it can seem inescapable for many. Unfortunately, some victims of these heinous crimes take their own life. This is not acceptable. We must do better. And that's what we're doing with this bill. It's not just for the generations here today but for future generations, those that come after us. The Morrison government is determined that the standards and the rule of law that we enjoy in our every day lives, as we walk around our communities, should also apply online. This is not just reasonable and sensible; it's practical. We need to pass this government's Online Safety Bill to ensure this can become a reality.

The bill will strengthen the ability of the eSafety Commissioner to keep Australians safe when things go wrong online. I would like to take a moment to talk about the eSafety Commissioner, Julie Inman Grant. As the eSafety Commissioner, she is head of the world's first esafety regulatory agency, and she is committed to keeping our citizens safe online. This is very important. This is a world first. No other country, to my knowledge, has legislated an esafety commissioner. Ms Inman Grant spent two decades working in senior public policy and safety roles in the tech industry, at Microsoft, Twitter and Adobe. She's worked in the US Congress and was Global Director for Safety, Privacy Policy and Outreach at Microsoft for many years. She's also global chair of the Child Dignity Alliance's Technical Working Group and a board member of the WePROTECT Global Alliance. This is a woman who really knows her stuff. This bill will provide new powers to the eSafety Commissioner to address emerging harms and hold industry to account for the safety of their products and services.

The Morrison government is also acting on its commitment to increase penalties for the use of a carriage service to menace, harass or cause offence, from three years up to five years. This will surely help deter many of these acts to begin with. The new Online Safety Bill will establish in law a set of basic online safety expectations for industry. This will help ensure it is transparent and easy to comprehend. In light of the excellent skills and experience of the eSafety Commissioner, these are very relevant changes. Along with these basic expectations, it will also require mandatory transparency reporting. This will empower the eSafety Commissioner to require online services to provide specific information about online harms, such as their response to material depicting abhorrent, violent conduct or even volumetric attacks, which is where organised digital groups seek to overwhelm a victim with abuse. Further, it will see a strengthened cyberbullying scheme for Australian children, along with a new cyberabuse scheme, which will see the removal of the serious forms of online abuse from the internet, backed up by civil penalties. There will also be new requirements for image based abuse content to be removed within 24 hours, and penalties for noncompliance.

Yesterday marks two years since a shocking event occurred. Australians will not forget—simply cannot forget—what happened in the space of 36 minutes on 15 March 2019, when Brenton Tarrant, a far Right extremist, fatally shot 51 innocent people across two mosques in Christchurch. This was the deadliest terrorist attack in New Zealand's history. What was unique about this horrific terrorist attack was that it was live streamed on Facebook, highlighting the Achilles heel of such platforms when faced with the viral dissemination of extremely violent content. One can't unsee those images. The legislation before us will empower the eSafety Commissioner with a new rapid website-blocking power. This power can be used to block material depicting abhorrent violent conduct, in real time, during an online crisis.

Enhanced information-gathering powers for the eSafety Commissioner will also help unmask the identities behind anonymous online accounts being used to abuse, bully or humiliate others. This part of the powers I'm sure many Australians and, I suspect, many in this House—particularly public figures—will be celebrating. These online trollings from fake or anonymous accounts can cause untold damage. They really do lower the tone of conversations that can be very empowering in an online space. For far too long and too often many victims of online abuse have been hurled at from behind troll accounts. This act is a warning to all trolls: the tables have been turned; the eSafety Commissioner is coming for you.

TV and radio presenter Erin Molan was forced to take police action after an online troll bombarded her with a series of vile messages threatening the life of her unborn daughter. I would like to acknowledge Erin and to thank her for sharing her story so publicly and bringing this story to light so that we can understand how terrible some of this trolling can be. Erin Molan is a leading voice for this legislative change and recently said:

This historical, legislative and social milestone is setting a standard that the rest of the world should—and I think will—follow.

It is true that our Australian regulations and legislation are being looked to by the rest of the world, and we know this from the point that Mathias Cormann has been recently elected as Secretary-General of the OECD on a platform which included digital taxation, based on the fact that we have a very good record of work in this important area.

The Online Safety Bill provides a flexible, comprehensive framework that requires platforms to prioritise the safety of Australians and empowers the eSafety Commissioner to assist them when things go wrong online. This bill is one vital step to delivering overall safety online. But it is also true that we, as individuals, need to actively take steps to make the internet a safe and enjoyable space for every user. Together, we can and should work towards a better internet. It is democratised knowledge; it has made the world a better place for many to live. I commend this bill to the House. But we all need to work together with regard to online safety.

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