Don Farrell (SA, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Trade and Tourism) Share this | Hansard source

I thank Senator Walker for her question and the great work that she is doing on behalf of the people of South Australia.

Today marks yet another step in the Albanese Labor government's ongoing commitment to tackle the abhorrent spread of abusive and predatory technology. Alongside our world-leading social media minimum age reform, the government is acting to protect our most vulnerable against deepfake and online stalking apps. We've seen the apps spread at an alarming rate, with one child in every classroom in Australia being the victim of a deepfake abuse. Four out of five of these victims are young girls. It's clear that this abuse is not slowing down either. Recent reports from the eSafety Commissioner indicate that the use of these apps has doubled in the last 18 months, and the harms experienced at the hands of these apps are just too great.

That's why the Albanese Labor government is determined to take a proactive approach. Our government will work alongside industry to develop and deliver these reforms alongside our ongoing work on the digital duty of care. It will complement current state and Commonwealth laws, prohibiting stalking and the distribution of non-consensual explicit materials. While we all recognise there is a place for AI and tracking technology in Australia, there is simply no place for tech that is used to abuse, humiliate and harm our most vulnerable Australians.