A new Bill introduced by the Liberal State Government on the 20th of August 2014 has moved to amend the law governing the distribution of ‘intimate images’ through mobile devices. In particular, the changes will affect minors who engage in consensual ‘sexting.’ Previously, youths convicted of sexting – even where the other party was another consenting minor – risked earning a criminal record and were immediately placed on the sex offenders’ register. There was no judicial discretion in respect to this.
The new laws will ensure that anyone under 18 who creates, possesses or distributes an intimate image (or ‘sext’) of themselves or another minor, no more than two years younger than them, will not be guilty of a child pornography offence, unless the image also depicts a criminal offence against the minor depicted (such as sexual assault) (s8. of the Bill). There are also new provisions to protect minors and adults alike from malicious sharing of images. These changes include two new summary offences relating to ‘distribution of an intimate image’ and ‘threat to distribute and intimate image’ in ‘circumstances contrary to community standard of acceptable conduct’ (s25 of the Bill).
The catalyst for the new Bill was a Victorian Parliamentary Law Reform Committee, which investigated claims made by The Sunday Age that the old laws greatly imperiled young peoples’ career prospects by placing otherwise innocent youths on the sex offenders’ register. The inquiry found that many young people were unaware that they were committing serious child pornography offences when sexting, and advised that the strict earlier laws be brought in line with modern technology. The new laws will ensure that youths are no longer harshly punished for consensual intimate image sharing.
Written by Dzenana Vucicfor LawHelp Australia
16 September 2014