New Bill Will Help Block Australians From Accessing Child Porn

A new bill passed in the lower house yesterday would make overseas child porn much harder for Australians to access, Federal Labor MP Gail Brodtmann told parliament yesterday. If the bill passes the Senate, the Australian Signals Directorate (ASD) will branch off from the Australian Government Department of Defence and be given increased power to tackle cyber crime that occurs outside Australia. Accessing overseas child porn via wire transfer would be one such crime.

Brodtmann, who is the shadow cyber security spokeswoman, said Australians are making wire transfers to consume sexually explicit material involving children in developing nations.

“This is happening in our community today, every day,” she said.

"For example, somebody jumps on a social media platform like Skype and pays a trafficker via a wire transfer to view … footage transmitted over the internet [of] a child engaging in sexually explicit acts, or posing for sexually explicit photos or videos. The cost of the show to the viewer increases with the level of abuse directed by the viewer.

“[This bill] will help lay the groundwork for a more active approach to protecting the Australian cyber sphere and for going after those sickos who engage in that disgusting behaviour," Brodtmann continued.

"Providing the ASD with functions to prevent and disrupt cybercrime beyond Australia's borders will help bolster efforts to reduce the impact of what is currently called a wild west."

If the bill passes the Senate, it will come into effect on July 1.