Bills

Statutes Amendment (Sexual Offences) Bill

Second Reading

Adjourned debate on second reading.

(Continued from 14 June 2023.)

The Hon. K.A. HILDYARD (Reynell—Minister for Child Protection, Minister for Women and the Prevention of Domestic and Family Violence, Minister for Recreation, Sport and Racing) (11:17): I believe that I was part way through my remarks to close the debate yesterday. I will be very brief in finalising those closing remarks. I had thanked a number of people who had contributed their thinking, their expertise and their steadfast commitment to making a difference in this area in the development of this bill and in the passage of this bill in the upper house. Indeed, I was also thanking the members who spoke on it in this house.

There is another group of people I wanted to thank and they are the staff in the Attorney-General's office, Elliette Kirkbride in particular, who has just come in for the possibly not committee stage, and also Laira. They have done remarkable work on this bill and also on a suite of legislation that we have progressed—legislation that will enable us to better advance our shared commitment to ensure that children and young people have the best opportunity to live their lives free from horrific child sexual abuse—and also legislation that deals with perpetrators of that horrific abuse in the way that they should absolutely be dealt with. So I say thank you to Laira and to Elliette and to all in the Attorney-General's office and, indeed, department for their work in this space. With those words, I commend this bill to the house.

Bill read a second time.

Committee Stage

In committee.

Clauses 1 and 2 passed.

Clause 3.

Mr TEAGUE: New section 10AA(2) includes the definition of 'child sexual material'. It is defined to mean child exploitation material within the relevant part of the CLCA. I just wonder why the definition is not picked up directly. Is there any reason for not just using the term 'child exploitation material' and keeping that consistent from one act to the next?

The Hon. K.A. HILDYARD: If I am understanding your question correctly, the short answer is that we want the definition here to align with the offence that the perpetrator is actually being charged with.

Mr TEAGUE: Yes, I take that as a given. I have a couple of questions that are perhaps both associated with clause 3. So child sexual material is defined to mean child exploitation material within the meaning of part 3. I think I am probably repeating myself, but why are the words in the penultimate line of subsection (1) that for the first time use the term 'child sexual material' not 'child exploitation material'? In other words, subsection (1) might read, words leading up to, and then, 'take into account the harm that people who deal with child exploitation material cause to children by contributing to the demand for the abuse of children' and that way, for what it is worth, there would appear to be then consistency across the two statutes.

The Hon. K.A. HILDYARD: Thank you, that is a really good question. We will certainly seek more information from parliamentary counsel about that particular word. We think that parliamentary counsel's intention may have been to explore a broader definition of material to be captured, particularly thinking about the offences relating to, for instance, childlike sex dolls. We think that is the intention, but if it is acceptable to the shadow minister I am certainly happy to check on that particular issue and to provide information to you about that particular word.

Mr TEAGUE: I am grateful for that indication. Perhaps there might be a clue to this in terms of the definition that precedes it, which is a newly defined child sexual material offence, which is defined to be an offence against those particular sections of the CLCA. If that is the case, and if it is about then using the consistent term for the purposes of what is going to be this new 10AA in the Bail Act, the question might be: is there a broader task? We have had a bit of a focus on language lately. If it is a better means of capturing the scope of offences, then I wonder whether the question might be put the other way round and the reform of the term 'child exploitation material' might be the one that is in the frame.

The Hon. K.A. HILDYARD: I take your point. As I said in answer to the second question that you asked, I do agree that it possibly is to make sure that we are capturing the broadest range of possible horrific exploitation material that is designed to exploit and abuse. But certainly we can investigate that particular matter.

Mr TEAGUE: Chair, I have now found myself using three questions on clause 3. I just indicate that the one further question that I have in relation to the bill perhaps relates most to clause 3.

The CHAIR: I am more than happy to be flexible.

The Hon. K.A. HILDYARD: That is fine. I think we want to try to work this—

The CHAIR: That is fine—within reasonable limits.

Mr TEAGUE: It is going to another topic, a broader topic, and it is just to give the government an opportunity to provide any indication, without going too far into debates that have occurred in another place.

It is well known and has been publicly canvassed that the Hon. Connie Bonaros in another place had proposed some definitions—again, a bit of overlap with the Child Sex Offenders Registration Act—for the purposes of defining child-related work and then the introduction of a particular provision, again to guide the court's more particular consideration of where someone who is bailed may or may not be able to work.

Again, with or without reference to the Attorney's response and to the opposition's attitude in the context of the Attorney's response, that all happened on 4 May in terms of the debate and in early May in terms of the subsequent public discourse. In case there is anything that the government might add at this point, in relation to what the Attorney described as wanting to do a body of work and having a look at how it operates across a number of acts and so on, then I would invite that.

The Hon. K.A. HILDYARD: I do not think there is anything new to add to what the Attorney spoke about in relation to this particular proposed amendment. However, I can certainly reiterate that, as everybody knows in this house and as everybody supports in this house, the safety of children is of course absolutely a priority. As the Attorney said, we want to look at the subject matter of this particular amendment in a holistic way and take into account the three relevant acts in relation to this issue, those being the Child Sex Offenders Registration Act, the Bail Act and the Child Safety (Prohibited Persons) Act.

It is certainly my understanding of the intention of the Attorney that we will look at those issues in a holistic way so that we can come up with the best possible piece of work to continue to advance child safety as a priority but with an examination of the interaction on this issue with those three acts.

Clause passed.

Remaining clauses (4 to 12) and title passed.

Bill reported without amendment.

Third Reading

The Hon. K.A. HILDYARD (Reynell—Minister for Child Protection, Minister for Women and the Prevention of Domestic and Family Violence, Minister for Recreation, Sport and Racing) (11:32): I move:

That this bill be now read a third time.

Bill read a third time and passed.