86/07
Friday 22 June 2007

New online content safeguards

The Minister for Communications, Information Technology and the Arts, Senator Helen Coonan, welcomed the passage of the Communications Legislation Amendment (Content Services) Bill 2007 through the Parliament this week.

The legislation extends the current safeguards that apply to content delivered over the Internet or television to content delivered over convergent devices such as 3G mobile phones and services available via subscription Internet portals.

“The Government is strongly committed to ensuring that appropriate safeguards are in place to protect consumers, particularly children, from harmful or inappropriate content which is accessible both through new technologies as well as through more traditional media,” Senator Coonan said.

“The reforms strike the right balance between protecting children and consumers online whilst also allowing industry to develop new business models and utilise emerging technologies.”

The reforms provide a new framework which seeks to achieve consistency in the classification of content irrespective of the platform over which it is delivered. It is based on existing measures including the current Online Content Scheme, and the regulatory framework already applying to premium mobile phone content services.

The new scheme will strengthen the framework for the regulation of ‘stored’ content, and establish new rules for ‘live’ and interactive content services (such as chat rooms), and services which provide links to content.

Under the new arrangements the regulator will be able to take action to direct material be taken down or access removed where it is provided in contravention of the new rules. Strong sanctions will be put in place including criminal penalties with fines for corporations of up to $55,000 per day during which the contravention occurs.

The reforms also allow for industry co-regulation as a means of providing for regulatory frameworks to evolve and adapt with the technologies and services which they regulate.

The passage of this legislation forms an important part of the Government’s multi-faceted approach to dealing with the potential risks associated with harmful content available online. This involves a combination of legislation, enforcement, education and technology and includes:

• the amendments to the Criminal Code Act 1995 effective from March 2005 that target the use of the Internet to access, transmit and make available child pornography and child abuse material;
• the National Child Protection Initiative, under which the AFP received almost
  $30 million to fund the Online Child Sex Exploitation Team; and
• the Protecting Australian Families Online initiative which includes a $93 million National Filter Scheme to provide all families with either a free PC filter or a subsidised Internet service provider filtered service.

The Government consulted widely in developing the legislation and would like to thank all stakeholders for their valuable input. This has resulted in the passage of practical and workable legislation which will provide a safer environment for our children when online.

Whilst noting the Labor Party’s support for this measure, the Minister reminded the community that Mr Rudd and the Labor Party had spent much of their time in Opposition opposing online protection measures.

“Having battled against every practical measure to protect Australians online – starting with voting against the Online Content Scheme in 1999 - Labor has at long last decided to start supporting online protection for consumers.

“Let’s see how genuine Labor’s concern is with the forthcoming launch of the Government’s $116 million Protecting Australian Families Online program.

“For the sake of Australian children, I hope the Labor Party starts backing the Government on the very serious issue of online protection for families but I fear that this, like Kevin Rudd’s retrospective claim to be a ‘fiscal conservative’, is the consequence of focus group feedback rather than any true conviction,” Senator Coonan said.

Media Contact:  Fiona Telford 02 6277 7480