RECOMMENDATIONS
The Committee recommends that the Commonwealth, State and Territories
legislate to make it an offence to use a computer service to transmit,
obtain possession of, demonstrate, advertise or request the transmission
of material which is or is likely to be Refused Classification (RC) or
to be in a restricted category because it is likely to cause offence to
a "reasonable adult" as described in the National Classification
Code. [1] (Recommendation 1)
The Committee recommends that an independent complaints handling body
be established under the purview of the ABA or other appropriate government
body, based on the model provided by the Telephone Information Services
Standards Council (TISSC), to deal with complaints from users of computer
on-line services. (Recommendation 2)
The Committee recommends that the Minister for Communications and the
Arts introduce legislation, modelled on the Broadcasting Services Act
1992 to require participants in the on-line industry to develop codes
of practice which address certain basic principles to be formulated in
consultation with participants in the on-line industry, to abide by them
and to require those codes of practice to be registered with an appropriate
body to be determined in the legislation. (Recommendation 3)
The Committee recommends that the legislation governing the registration
of codes of practice should include provisions for financial penalties
(of up to $100,000) to be imposed for breaches of those codes of practice.
(Recommendation 4)
The Committee recommends further that the legislation should contain
provisions designed to protect from prosecution, those Internet Service
Providers who choose, in good faith, to restrict access to material that
while not illegal, could cause offence. (Recommendation 5)
The Committee recommends that legislation developed as per recommendation
3 above should make it mandatory for those who make available restricted
material through on-line services to require a pin number (which will
be available only on production of a driving licence or other proof of
age) before granting the potential user access to such material. (Recommendation
6)
The Committee recommends that the Minister for Communications and the
Arts direct the ABA to investigate the development of reliable age verification
procedures for accessing material not suitable for children through on-line
services. (Recommendation 7)
The Committee recommends that all States and Territories amend their
Classification and/or Censorship legislation to make it an offence to
transmit objectionable material and to cover the transmission of material
unsuitable for minors through computer on-line services so that all States
and Territories would have legislation that is uniform according to an
agreement to be reached by the On-Line Government Council, and adopt a
standard definition of the expression: "objectionable material".
(Recommendation 8)
The Committee recommends that, once all States and Territories have enacted
legislation as per recommendation 8 above, designated units in State and
Territory police forces should conduct random audits of material on-line
for illegal activities. (Recommendation 9)
The Committee recommends that the On-Line Ministerial Council agree to
commit the Commonwealth and States to funding an on-line advertising campaign
to accompany the implementation of any regulatory measures adopted by
the Council and the Standing Committee of Attorney-Generals. The campaign
must provide information for Internet users to make them aware of existing
legislation and their legal obligations. (Recommendation 10)
The Committee recommends that federal legislation requiring the development
of codes of practice for the on-line industry (as per recommendation 3)
should also require retailers and service providers to provide information
to customers on blocking and filtering devices and any other method that
are or become available to manage children's access and block out material
they may not wish to access. (Recommendation 11)
The Committee recommends that any community education campaign that is
conducted to encourage the responsible use of on-line services should
have as one of its aims to make parents and those responsible for children,
aware of the pros and cons of the various devices available on the market
for blocking access to material considered by some to be unsuitable. (Recommendation
12)
The Committee recommends that the Minister for Communications and the
Arts request (under Section 171 of the Broadcasting Services Act 1992)
that the Australian Broadcasting Authority convene an On-Line labelling
Task Force (to include representatives of the Office of Film and Literature
Classification (OFLC) and representatives of the on-line services industry)
to design a scheme for labelling on-line content that takes into account
Australian cultural values and the principles that govern the existing
classification scheme. (Recommendation 13)
The Committee recommends that the ABA or another appropriate government
body establish an e-mail, phone and fax hotline service to receive information
about possible illegal material (including paedophilic material and child
pornography) found by users on the Internet. (Recommendation No 14)
The Committee recommends that the Australian government continue its
discussions in international fora with the aim of developing an international
Agreement aimed at facilitating co-operation between countries in developing
protocols for pursuing criminal activities carried out through the use
of computer on-line services. (Recommendation 15)
[Signed] Senator John Tierney
Chairman
Footnotes
[1] The National Classification Code is a schedule
to the Commonwealth Classification (Publications, Films and Computer
Games) Act 1995