081/06
22 August 2006

Content safeguards extended to mobile phones

New safeguards to protect consumers from inappropriate or harmful material delivered over 3G mobile phones and similar devices will go a long way to protecting children from incidents such as those reported in today’s Daily Telegraph, the Minister for Communications, Information Technology and the Arts, Senator Helen Coonan, said today.

“However, while the Government will take every measure possible to protect children using new technologies, parents and educators must remain ever vigilant to ensure children are safe,” Senator Coonan said.

“Like the Internet, increasingly sophisticated hardware such as mobile phones can be a vital communications tool, but in inexperienced hands they can become a pipeline for perversion.

“Recognising the challenge that next generation mobile phones pose for regulating content which may be offensive or illegal, I will shortly put in place new safeguards to protect consumers when they are using 3G mobile phones and subscription based Internet portals.

“I will soon introduce to Parliament legislation to extend the current safeguards that apply to content delivered over the Internet or television to content delivered over convergent devices such as mobile phones.

“This will include prohibition of content rated X18+ and above, as well as requirements for consumer advice and age-restrictions on access to content suited only to adults. These prohibitions will be backed by strong sanctions for non-compliance with the new regulatory framework, including criminal penalties for serious offences.

“To complement these measures the Government also recently announced the $116.6 million Protecting Australian Families Online package which, among other measures, will provide every Australian family with a free Internet filter or a filtered service on their home computer.

“There will also be a comprehensive information campaign to help educate parents about how best to keep their children safe when using the Internet and technologies such as 3G mobile phones.

“These initiatives show how seriously this Government takes the issue of protecting children from inappropriate and offensive content and helping parents to understand and deal with these devices in the hands of their children.