Push to criminalise ‘revenge porn’

EX-COUPLES who photograph or distribute naked images without consent could face up to three years in jail under new ‘revenge porn’ legislation.

Revenge porn could soon get you jail time

EX-COUPLES who photograph or distribute naked images without consent could face up to three years in jail under new ‘revenge porn’ legislation.

The Abbott Government has confirmed it will introduce a bill on Monday to make it a federal offence to distribute, or threaten to distribute, intimate and pornographic images or videos without consent.

The push to criminalise ‘revenge porn’ follows the case of over 500 Adelaide women who had intimate images published on a US website, including AFL great Graham Cornes’ 21-year-old daughter Amy.

Victorian MP Tim Watts and Queensland MP Terri Butler have prepared a private members’ bill. The proposed laws would apply to photographs or film clips posted on websites, or distributed via SMS, email and social media. Anyone who partakes in revenge porn will be liable for up to three years in jail, while those who run websites or other electronic platforms could face up to five years in jail.

Currently, no federal laws exist in Australia to stop the publication or distribution of private sexual imagery without the consent of one or more of the parties involved.

Minister Assisting the Prime Minister for Women Michaelia Cash told reporters last week the government was looking to crack down on revenge porn. “You’re in an intimate relationship, you take some photos, they’re not meant for anybody else. You leave the relationship and suddenly those photos are being used to blackmail you,” Ms Cash said.

“We need to ensure that we have adequate legal protections in relation to what really is a new type of abuse and that is technological abuse.

“That is one of the key deliverables that Coag has been tasked with to deliver on by the end of the year,” she added.

The Advisory Panel on Reducing Violence against Women — chaired by former Victorian police chief Mr Ken Lay and Australian of the Year Ms Rosie Batty, will report back to Coag by the end of 2015.