Mitch Fifield (Victoria, Liberal Party, Minister for Communications) Share this | Hansard source

The central part of the legislation introduces a federal civil penalties regime targeted at perpetrators and content hosts. Penalties of up to $105,000 for individuals and up to $525,000 for corporations can be applied for breaches of the prohibition. Civil penalties will allow the eSafety Commissioner to take action within hours to quickly remove intimate images and to prevent them being shared.

The bill complements current criminal laws and the two new offence provisions that will be introduced. It will also complement the online complaints portal launched by the Office of the eSafety Commissioner in late 2017. The Office of the eSafety Commissioner has had a great deal of success in working cooperatively to have offending material removed. These measures give the eSafety Commissioner the power to pursue a range of responses should informal cooperation be insufficient. So we are facilitating the rapid removal of intimate images and increasing deterrence for would-be perpetrators.