Coalition dissenting comments

1.1Coalition members of the committee support much of the majority committee report. Child exploitation is a terrible scourge on our society, and the report reflects a significant amount of work by the committee to pursue this issue across two parliaments. Consistent with the majority report, Coalition members are deeply concerned about the staggering volume of child abuse material online and are of the view that law enforcement must prioritise this crime type.

1.2There are two areas in which Coalition members support further action than proposed by the majority report.

Trial of age assurance technologies

1.3The eSafety Commissioner (eSafety) recently published a Roadmap for age verification and complementary measures to prevent and mitigate harms to children from online pornography. In the Roadmap, eSafety recommended a trial of age assurance technologies and the use of digital tokens in the Australian context.[1] However, the Australian Government indicated that it will 'await the outcomes of the class2 industry codes process before deciding on a potential trial of age assurance technologies'.[2]

1.4The majority committee report does not challenge this position. Recommendation 10 essentially proposes that options for age assurance of children using social media and online games be considered as part of eSafety's work on industry codes and the government's work in response to the Roadmap. Coalition members agree that consideration of age assurance and age verification technologies should not be limited to online pornography. However, it is important that these technologies are trialled without delay. The government proposes to consider options after the class 2 industry code process is concluded but that process has not even commenced.

1.5This inquiry received concerning evidence about the prevalence of child exploitation online, including perpetrators seeking to find children on social media or online games. In particular, evidence highlighted the ease with which children can access inappropriate material and circumvent age based protections on social media. Coalition members consider it imperative that action is taken to ensure age based protections on these platforms are effective.

1.6Consistent with eSafety's recommendations in the Roadmap, Coalition members of the committee support a trial of age assurance technologies. As suggested by the Roadmap, this trial should contemplate multiple use cases in addition to online pornography, such as social media and online games.

1.7Coalition members of the committee recommend that, in line with the eSafety Commissioner's recommendations in the Roadmap for age verification and complementary measures to prevent and mitigate harms to children from online pornography, the Australian Government implement and evaluate a trial of age assurance technologies and the use of digital tokens in the Australian context.

Public child sex offender register

1.8Research published by the Australian Institute of Criminology highlights the real risk that recidivist offending presents to children. A 2021 study using data from New South Wales authorities found that seven per cent of child sex offenders committed a further sexual offence within 10 years of their first police proceeding for a child sexual offence.[3]

1.9Another study examined a sample of alleged offenders who had a recorded history of alleged child sexual offences, drawing on police recorded offence data from New South Wales, Queensland, Victoria and Western Australia. The report states:

Results from this study suggest recidivist child sexual assault offenders comprise a small group of motivated, persistent offenders who are willing to adapt their offending to target new and different victims in different contexts.[4]

1.10The final sample examined by the study 'included 1,321 alleged offenders who were responsible for 1,780 incidents of child sexual assault in the reference period [January 2015 to December 2019] involving 1,772 victims aged 15 years or younger'.[5] These figures reflect the concerningly large volume of re-offending in Australia. This concern is reinforced by other key data from the study:

'Irrespective of the relationship with the victim, the vast majority of incidents involving recidivist offenders occurred in or around a place of residence. Residential locations accounted for between 66 and 82 percent of all repeat child sexual assault incidents'.[6]

The mean age of victims of recidivist child sexual assault ranged from 10.6to 11.4 years across the four jurisdictions.[7]

Within the sample, 'almost all of the alleged offenders—between 96 and 100percent—perpetrated offences against new victims, meaning the victims in the reference period were not the same as the victims in the 10-year prior history period [January 2005 to December 2014]'.[8]

1.11The report also found that most child sexual assault incidents involving an alleged recidivist offender 'involved someone known to the offender, most often an acquaintance or relative'. The research 'suggests that—even after contact with the criminal justice system—these alleged offenders had access to children known to them'. Moreover, the report states:

We know that offenders and victims who knew each other were most often acquaintances, implying that there was a limited relationship between them or that the victim (or the parents or guardians of the child victim) were quite possibly unaware of the alleged offender's prior history.[9]

1.12Coalition members are of the view that a national public register of child sex offenders would improve public awareness of those offenders and help to reduce the risk of recidivism.

1.13A national public register received support from some inquiry participants.[10] MsMadeleineWest, an advocate against child exploitation, submitted that '[d]one right, there is no argument against it that holds water, not in light of the incredible good it will do'. In recommending a model of register that functions similarly to the Family Violence Multi‑Agency Risk Assessment and Management Framework in Victoria, Ms West submitted that 'had such a registry existed 30 years ago, the perpetrator would not have been allowed the access he had, and I would not be a victim today'.[11]

1.14Coalition members are conscious that different models of public register have been implemented in other jurisdictions. In the interests of children's safety, Coalition members support the implementation of a national public child sex offender register in Australia.

1.15Coalition members of the committee recommend that the Australian Government work with states and territories to implement a national public register of child sex offenders.

Mr Llew O'Brien MP

Deputy Chair

Footnotes

[1]eSafety Commissioner, Roadmap for age verification and complementary measures to prevent and mitigate harms to children from online pornography, March 2023, pp. 28–29.

[2]Australian Government, Government response to the Roadmap for Age Verification, August 2023,pp.4–5. See discussion of the industry code process in chapter 5.

[3]Christopher Dowling, Anthony Morgan and Kamarah Pooley, Australian Institute of Criminology, 'Reoffending among child sexual offenders', Trends and issues in crime and criminal justice, No. 628, July2021, pp. 4, 6.

[4]Anthony Morgan, Australian Institute of Criminology, 'Exploring the role of opportunity in recidivist child sexual offending', Research Report 24, 2022, pp. vii, x.

[5]Anthony Morgan, Australian Institute of Criminology, 'Exploring the role of opportunity in recidivist child sexual offending', Research Report 24, 2022, p. viii.

[6]Anthony Morgan, Australian Institute of Criminology, 'Exploring the role of opportunity in recidivist child sexual offending', Research Report 24, 2022, p. ix.

[7]Anthony Morgan, Australian Institute of Criminology, 'Exploring the role of opportunity in recidivist child sexual offending', Research Report 24, 2022, p. 17.

[8]Anthony Morgan, Australian Institute of Criminology, 'Exploring the role of opportunity in recidivist child sexual offending', Research Report 24, 2022, p. viii.

[9]Anthony Morgan, Australian Institute of Criminology, 'Exploring the role of opportunity in recidivist child sexual offending', Research Report 24, 2022, p. x.

[10]For example, Mr Glen Hulley, Founding Chief Executive Officer, Project Karma, Committee Hansard, 15November 2022, p. 8; Safe on Social, answers to questions on notice, 20 February 2023 and 24February 2023 (received 6 March 2023), [p. 3].

[11]Ms Madeleine West, answers to questions on notice, 20 February 2023 and 24 February 2023 (received 9 March 2023), [p. 5].