Michelle Rowland (Greenway, Australian Labor Party, Attorney-General) Share this | Hansard source

I thank the member for her question and the very constructive engagement we have had on this matter. Of course, it is absolutely of great concern not only to the government but to all of civil society that some of the applications we have seen and some of the technology that we have seen developed is so harmful not only to people generally in our society but to young people in particular. And, of course, we know that the member has presented a bill which will, of course, be given due consideration by the government.

But I will make three key points. This is precisely the reason this government, in the last term, brought forward the Statutory Review of the Online Safety Act 2021 by a year. We have now had the release of that review's report brought forward by the Minister for Communications, in terms of the government's response.

My second point is that, as has been made very clear by this government, not only are we considering those issues very closely but also we have announced that we will take steps in relation to these apps, which have no place. There is no person who can justify having technology that causes a person to be nudified or otherwise denigrated and that causes that to be disseminated and to cause the harm that it is causing.

The third point that I would make is that, when we consider criminal sanctions, they of course require careful consideration and discussion with states and territories. I can confirm to the member that this has been openly discussed at the first meeting of the Standing Council of Attorneys-General, which met only a couple of weeks ago, and I can assure the member, the House and all Australians that this is a matter of bipartisanship for Commonwealth and state and territory attorneys-general. We are determined to put in place the right policy settings that are fit for purpose and forward looking, when we think about the danger of some of these technologies and the importance of ensuring that we have appropriate guardrails. That is why, in the previous term of this government, we announced significant measures that go towards the protection of young people, including the age restrictions on social media and including, as has only recently been announced, our decision to bring forward appropriate amendments to deal in the criminal context with some of these apps.

So I look forward, and the government looks forward, to working with the honourable member and all like-minded members of parliament to make sure that we have these protections in place.

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