Ted O'Brien (Fairfax, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is to the Minister for Families and Social Services, representing the Minister for Communications and the Arts. Will the minister update the House on how the government is working to keep Australians safe and secure online and working to combat image based abuse?

Paul Fletcher (Bradfield, Liberal Party, Minister for Families and Social Services) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I thank the member for Fairfax, who has a strong interest in keeping Australians safe online. This has been a priority of the government since we came to government. We have a strong track record in online safety. We've made it a priority because we are committed to keeping Australians safe online, as well as in every other environment.

Shortly after we came to government, we established the eSafety Commissioner. That's keeping kids safer online. It's keeping older Australians safer online. We are also enhancing the powers of the eSafety Commissioner to deal with the growing scourge of non-consensual sharing of intimate images. Regrettably, this is an increasing problem in our community. It's colloquially known as revenge porn. Whoever it happens to, the response, the perception and the feeling is universal. If you are a victim, what you want is for those images to be taken down as quickly as possible. What you want is swift action, and that is what the Morrison government has delivered through the Enhancing Online Safety (Non-consensual Sharing of Intimate Images) Bill. This marks a very important step in providing greater safety for Australians who find themselves victim of the non-consensual sharing of intimate images, because the eSafety Commissioner will have the power to work with social media platforms to have offending images removed and now has the discretion to action a range of enforcement mechanisms to investigate complaints, to issue infringement notices, to accept enforcement undertakings or to seek injunctions.

Let me be very clear: under this legislation, as an individual, if you do the wrong thing, you can expect to be fined up to $105,000 if you do not comply with a request from the eSafety Commissioner to remove an offending image. If you are an organisation, the fine is $525,000. We've also amended the Criminal Code, which means perpetrators who send private sexual material could face increased penalties of imprisonment for up to five years or seven years for repeat offenders. It is so important that the safety of Australians online is protected, as the Morrison government is working to protect the safety of Australians in all environments. And, with this toughening of the laws to deal with revenge porn, we have made Australians safer. We are taking action to keep Australians safe online.