|
senate vote 2024-08-21#8
Edited by
mackay staff
on
2024-09-01 10:47:43
|
Title
Bills — Criminal Code Amendment (Deepfake Sexual Material) Bill 2024; in Committee- Criminal Code Amendment (Deepfake Sexual Material) Bill 2024 - in Committee - Must be 14 years of age or older
Description
<p class="speaker">Larissa Waters</p><p>At the request of Senator Thorpe, I move her amendment on sheet 2763:</p>-
- The majority voted against an [amendment](https://www.openaustralia.org.au/senate/?gid=2024-08-21.56.1) introduced by Victorian Senator [Lidia Thorpe](https://theyvoteforyou.org.au/people/senate/victoria/lidia_thorpe) (Independent), which means it failed.
- ### What was the purpose of this amendment?
- Queensland Senator [Larissa Waters](https://theyvoteforyou.org.au/people/senate/queensland/larissa_waters) (Greens) introduced this amendment on Senator Thorpe's behalf and [explained that](https://www.openaustralia.org.au/senate/?gid=2024-08-21.56.1):
- > *This amendment is in line with the Greens' long-held position of raising the age of criminal responsibility to 14. [...] Leaving aside that blatant disregard for democracy and human rights, both adult and children's prisons have repeatedly been shown to be unsafe for young people. They increase the likelihood of reoffending, and they impose torture-like conditions. First Nations children are especially targeted and are grossly overrepresented in child prisons. Closing child prisons is a key measure towards closing the gap. That's why the Greens are moving this amendment on sheet 2763, and we urge everyone in the chamber to support this amendment. I note that the federal government should in fact use its power to incentivise all state jurisdictions to raise the age of criminal responsibility for both this and all other offences, because kids don't belong in prison.*
- ### Amendment text
- > *(1) Schedule 1, item 5, page 5 (after line 12), after subsection 474.17A(3), insert:*
- >
- > *(3A) Subsection (1) does not apply if the first person is not 14 years of age or older.*
- >
- > *Note: A defendant bears an evidential burden in relation to the matter in subsection (3A). See subsection 13.3(3).*
<p class="italic">(1) Schedule 1, item 5, page 5 (after line 12), after subsection 474.17A(3), insert:</p><p class="italic">(3A) Subsection (1) does not apply if the first person is not 14 years of age or older.</p><p class="italic">Note: A defendant bears an evidential burden in relation to the matter in subsection (3A). See subsection 13.3(3).</p><p>This amendment is in line with the Greens' long-held position of raising the age of criminal responsibility to 14. I note that Greens in state parliaments right around the country have been pushing for this change, as have many organisations. In my home state of Queensland, politicians are sending children of primary school age to be locked away in prison, and, despite the efforts of our Greens MPs in Queensland to stop this, last year we saw the Queensland government suspend the Human Rights Act so that children could be held in adult police watch houses—children as young as 10 years old. The purpose of the Queensland Human Rights Act is to protect children from harm, yet it was suspended.</p><p>Leaving aside that blatant disregard for democracy and human rights, both adult and children's prisons have repeatedly been shown to be unsafe for young people. They increase the likelihood of reoffending, and they impose torture-like conditions. First Nations children are especially targeted and are grossly overrepresented in child prisons. Closing child prisons is a key measure towards closing the gap. That's why the Greens are moving this amendment on sheet 2763, and we urge everyone in the chamber to support this amendment. I note that the federal government should in fact use its power to incentivise all state jurisdictions to raise the age of criminal responsibility for both this and all other offences, because kids don't belong in prison.</p> <p class="speaker">Anthony Chisholm</p><p>Thank you, Senator Waters, for that contribution. The government will be opposing the amendments by Senator Thorpe moved by Senator Waters. The new criminal offences are intended to criminalise the sharing of sexualised deep fake images without consent. The application of Commonwealth criminal law to those who meet the minimum age of criminal responsibility is not a new concept. There are a range of safeguards in place to ensure any decision to prosecute a juvenile is in the public interest, and relevant considerations are taken into account, such as the welfare of those involved. In light of this, the government does not support the amendments proposed by Senator Thorpe and moved by Senator Waters.</p> <p class="speaker">David Shoebridge</p><p>I rise to join with my colleague Senator Waters to support this amendment. When this legislation was first presented to parliament, the federal Attorney-General was queried about it by ABC journalist Raf Epstein. Concerns were raised with the Attorney-General that the law would likely see kids locked up and put in jail, to which the Attorney-General replied, 'Potentially, yes,' and then sought to suggest that there wasn't an issue because, 'Children are treated differently to adults in the justice system.' He was pressed on it in the interview, and the Attorney said, 'It's going to be a matter for courts, but, by and large, children are not jailed in Australia.' He then said that police would obviously exercise discretion.</p><p>The Attorney-General is living in a different Australia to the one that we witness, that First Nations kids witness and that young kids from poor communities witness. When the Attorney-General says, 'By and large, children are not jailed in Australia,' perhaps he hasn't been reading the data. Perhaps he hasn't been talking to state and territory jurisdictions. Perhaps he hasn't even been looking at the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare, which, in its report into youth justice in Australia in 2022-23, found that on average during that year, there were 828 young people in jail aged between 10 and 17. I ask: is the Attorney-General right where he says, 'By and large, children are not jailed in Australia'?</p><p>When you look at the number of kids washing in and out of jail, that same report from the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare said that over the 2022-23 year—the last year we have full data for—some 4,605 children spent time in jail in Australia. On an average day, there were 42 kids aged between 10 and 13 in jails in this country. Over the course of 2022-23, 600 different kids aged between 10 and 13 went to jail. I say again: the Attorney-General, when he says, 'By and large, children are not jailed in this country', seems to be living in a very different country—perhaps a more privileged country, where you don't talk to First Nations communities and families and where you don't talk to kids and families that come from regional parts of the states or some of the areas in our cities with poorer socioeconomic indicators. Perhaps in the Attorney-General's country—the one he and the people he talks to inhabit—kids don't go to jail. But in this actual country they do—this country where, if we were to go and look at the jails in the Northern Territory right now, there'd be a bunch of kids in those two detention centres, and every single one of them would be First Nations.</p><p>Or we could go to WA and look at the torture-like conditions in which kids are held in WA prisons. The Supreme Court has repeatedly called them out and said that they are torture-like conditions and has demanded the closing of those brutal child prisons. But the state government has done nothing and the federal Attorney-General has done nothing because the federal Attorney-General, it turns out, thinks that, by and large, kids aren't put in jail in Australia.</p><p>And we could have a look at the cruel institution in Tasmania which has been the subject of a royal commission. The royal commission found that girls as young as 13 were being put into that children's jail and the girls, when they turned up at the jail at age 13, were put on the pill so that they didn't become pregnant because the authorities knew about the extent of sexual abuse and assault of girls in that jail. That's a child's jail in this country—the same country where the Attorney-General says, by and large, kids aren't being put in jail.</p><p>When the Commonwealth goes to put yet another criminal offence on the statute books, one involving social media and the sharing of social media images, we say, 'Don't put kids aged 10, 11, 12 and 13 into jail for this,' because we know what will happen. We know they will be abused. If they go to a jail in WA, it's certain they'll be abused. They'll be in torture-like conditions. They'll be put in a watch house in Queensland. Every kid that gets jailed in the Northern Territory under this is almost certain to be a First Nations kid. And that cruel institution in Tasmania, the one the royal commission pointed out, is still operating.</p><p>I support the amendment and I'd urge everybody in this chamber, when the Attorney-General says things like this, that by and large kids don't get jailed in this country, to just pretend it's not a problem, check it. Test it. Talk to people in your states. Talk to families who expect their kids to get stopped and searched and potentially jailed just for the crime of being black in a public place in this country. Don't just rubberstamp this stuff and think it doesn't matter, that kids will somehow be protected by the rhetoric of the Attorney, because they won't.</p> <p class="speaker">Steph Hodgins-May</p><p>I rise to support the positions put by my colleagues Senator Waters and Senator Shoebridge. Right now 10-year-old kids across the country are being put in prisons. This is a national disgrace. The Greens, both federal and state, have been pushing to raise the age of criminal responsibility, and we welcome Senator Thorpe's amendment to the Criminal Code Amendment (Deepfake Sexual Material) Bill 2024 to raise the age of criminal responsibility to 14.</p><p>In my home state of Victoria, the Labor government recently backflipped on raising the age of criminal responsibility to 14 and caved to right-wing pressure instead of listening to First Nations communities and expert advice. This decision is a complete betrayal to First Nations communities and the Victorian government have ignored the evidence that tells us that we should be investing in children's futures and this is ultimately what leads to more community safety.</p><p>This decision will put more Victorian kids, especially First Nation kids, in prison. Breaking this promise is completely heartless and a total betrayal to First Nations communities, leaders and experts who have been telling us for years what needs to happen to keep communities safe and keep kids out of prison. We know that locking up kids isn't what's best for them and it doesn't lead to community safety. In fact, it's quite the opposite. It's deeply disappointing, although perhaps not surprising, that the Labor government isn't prepared to accept this amendment to raise the age in this legislation. Labor would do well to follow countries that have actually listened to the evidence and improved community safety, raised the age and invested in programs to keep kids out of prison.</p> <p class="speaker">Anthony Chisholm</p><p>Thanks for those contributions. There are a range of safeguards in place to ensure that any decision to prosecute a juvenile is in the public interest and relevant considerations are taken into account, such as the welfare of those involved. The government will be opposing this amendment.</p> <p class="speaker">David Fawcett</p><p>The question is that Senator Thrope's amendment (1) on sheet 2763 be agreed to.</p><p></p><p></p> -
-
|