CHILD SEX OFFENDERS REGISTRATION (REGISTRATION OF INTERNET ACTIVITIES) AMENDMENT BILL

Introduction and First Reading

The Hon. I.F. EVANS (Davenport) (10:34): Obtained leave and introduced a bill for an act to amend the Child Sex Offenders Registration Act 2006. Read a first time.

Second Reading

The Hon. I.F. EVANS (Davenport) (10:34): I move:

That this bill be now read a second time.

Again my contribution will be brief for the same reasons. Under section 13 of the Child Sex Offenders Registration Act (an act to deal with paedophiles), there are certain requirements for those who have been found guilty of child sex offences to register certain details with the relevant authorities, mainly the police: their name or former names, their place of residence, their place of work, their travel details. A whole range of personal details are required by the authorities so that the paedophiles can be monitored in a way that keeps the community safe.

Recently, I travelled to New South Wales and noticed that their act also has provisions for email addresses to be registered so that paedophiles can be monitored. An offence is created if they do not register all their email addresses. Given the rise in the use of chat rooms by the youth of the community and given that they are very vulnerable to not knowing who is on the other end of the email, it seems sensible to me that the next step in offering better community protection is to have people who have been found guilty of child sex offences (as per the act) register their email addresses with the appropriate authorities.

This principle picks up exactly the same principle that exists in New South Wales. It offers the community a higher level of protection and it offers the police force and the appropriate authorities another tool to ensure the community is safe. Again I look forward to the support of the house in due course.

Debate adjourned on motion of Ms Geraghty.