Child Exploitation Material

The Hon. C. BONAROS (15:14): I seek leave to make a brief explanation before asking the Deputy Premier a question in relation to child exploitation material.

Leave granted.

The Hon. C. BONAROS: ABC has reported on concerns that child sex abuse doll torsos and disembodied heads are being offered for sale on sites like Temu and Shein in what has been described as a loophole to get around laws that criminalise accessing child-like sex dolls. As we know, Australian laws make it illegal to possess, advertise or post, or import child sex abuse dolls. In SA, they are subject to hefty criminal penalties and explicitly listed in our legislation as child exploitation material.

Currently manufactured in overseas markets, we know, as has been reported, that these dolls are designed with vaginas, anuses and mouths that fit an adult penis. The dolls themselves are being taken apart and sold in bits and not together. According to advocates and campaigners like Caitlin Roper, she says you can buy the dolls in parts, and buy a child head separately, so they can then claim it wasn't supposed to be a child sex abuse doll.

In some extreme cases, a manufacturer has gone as far as saying, 'I'll run a tutorial for anyone who is interested, I'll send you out a doll or parts and then I'll teach you how to make the penetrable orifices yourself.' Concerns have also been raised that these doll parts now are being promoted by companies like Temu and Shein on Instagram and X, amongst other global platforms.

I think we all agree that there's no place for this in South Australia, but my question to the Deputy Premier, given that we have some of the most stringent and toughest child exploitation laws in the nation, is: will he commit to reviewing our current child exploitation material definitions and provisions to ensure that any such loophole that allows disembodied torsos to be subject to some sort of legal loophole that may exist is addressed as a matter of urgency?

The Hon. K.J. MAHER (Deputy Premier, Minister for Aboriginal Affairs, Attorney-General, Minister for Industrial Relations and Public Sector, Special Minister of State) (15:17): I thank the honourable member for her question. There are a number of parts that need to be considered in that question. Part of it is the definition within our criminal law but also how it's enforced and how it's advertised. Certainly, I know the federal police and the South Australian police are constantly looking to make sure that they are updating what they do, how they observe things, to look at ways things are being sold or differences of technology.

I will have a look at it, but I think our laws are pretty thorough and wideranging. I think it's section 62(a)(ii) of the Criminal Law Consolidation Act. When it defines child-like sex dolls it doesn't just include the whole doll, it is pretty prescriptive, and I think the wording is 'part of such a sex doll'. So if you attempt to sell in parts to try to get around the law, it is covered already in our definition. I am happy to go away and have a look at that, but I think if you are trying to get around our laws by selling, as you have said, in parts it's covered under section 62(a)(ii), but I will double-check that.