Child pornography laws in Australia

rdf:langString Child pornography laws in Australia

rdf:langString Child pornography laws in Australia prohibit all sexual depictions of children under an age set by state and territory legislation. The relevant ages are under 16 in the Australian Capital Territory, New South Wales, Queensland and Western Australia, under 17 in South Australia, and under 18 in the other jurisdictions and under federal law. The laws covering child pornography are differently defined in the various Australian jurisdictions, as are the penalties. The laws also cover depictions of sexual acts involving people over the threshold age who are simulating or otherwise alluding to being underage, even if all those involved are of a legal age. People have been successfully prosecuted after describing acts of abuse via MMS. The maximum penalty for the possession, production, distribution, import, export, sale, or access over the internet of child pornography is 15 years imprisonment. This was increased from 10 years in March 2010. A fine of up to A$275,000 may also come in place of, or in addition to, the prison sentence as well as sex offender register requirements. Furthermore, most convictions in this respect are for possession of child pornography, which is typically dealt with under state legislation, and there have been only a few convictions for production and/or distribution of such material (under commonwealth legislation). Furthermore, there is a zero-tolerance policy in place, which covers real children as well as purely fictional children. Operation Auxin in September 2004 led to the arrest of almost 200 people on charges of child pornography, and "sting" operations are common.