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Legislative Council - Fifty-Second Parliament, First Session (52-1)
2011-09-14 Daily Xml
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CRIMINAL LAW CONSOLIDATION (CHILD PORNOGRAPHY) AMENDMENT BILL

Second Reading

Second reading.

The Hon. S.G. WADE (20:06): I move:

That this bill be now read a second time.

I rise to speak on the Criminal Law Consolidation (Child Pornography) Amendment Bill 2010, a bill initiated by the Hon. Iain Evans in the other place, who, I am delighted, is in the gallery this evening. The bill seeks to address a current loophole in the law that means people between the ages of 16 and 17 are not protected under child pornography provisions.

The opposition strongly supports the initiative of the member for Davenport, the Hon. Iain Evans, in bringing these matters to the parliament's attention. The member is a proactive legislator, picking up issues with legislation highlighted to him by people at the coalface. This is an example of that. This loophole was brought to his attention by a member of the police Paedophile Task Force at a Neighbourhood Watch meeting.

The effects of child pornography often have devastating and far-reaching consequences. A research paper entitled 'Child pornography in the world congress against sexual exploitation of children' found that child pornography amplifies and broadcasts the original act of abuse that it depicts. In so doing, it can substantially aggravate the original offence.

The research paper indicated that in some studies about 50 per cent of the children who had been sexually abused experienced depression, post-traumatic stress disorder, disturbed behaviour, or a combination of these. Among the same cohort 59 per cent admitted having suicidal thoughts and 66 per cent showed signs of other emotional and behavioural problems.

Under the Criminal Law Consolidation Act (which I will now refer to as the act), a child is defined as a person under the age of 16 years. In South Australia, however, the age of consent is 17 years, as provided in section 49(3) of the act. Persons between the age of 16 and 17 years are not covered by the provisions in the act relating to child pornography, even though that person has not attained the age of consent.

A person who incites or procures a child who is, say, 16½ to commit an indecent act is not guilty of an offence. The amendments introduced by the bill will move the prescribed age of a child from under the age of 16 years to under the age of 17 years to encompass children who are excluded from the protection of the act as it stands. The Hon. Bob Such in the other place highlighted the need to:

...distinguish between people who abuse children sexually, particularly those who do it in a horrendous way, and teenagers who might think they are just having a bit of harmless sexting.

The issues the Hon. Bob Such raises are important, but I stress that the dilemma is not created by this bill. These issues have been raised with the government time and time again. We look forward to the government addressing them as a matter of urgency.

There is no doubt that child pornography can have a devastating, long-term effect on children. The bill is an important step in the right direction to help combat this heinous crime. We thank the government for its support of the changes in the other place and look forward to progressing this bill through the remaining stages as soon as possible.

Debate adjourned on motion of Hon. I.K. Hunter.

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