Senate inquiry into the phenomenon colloquially referred to as ‘revenge porn’

On 18 February 2016, VWL convenor, Stephanie Milione, and Law Reform committee representatives, Amy Johnstone and Sophie Brown, appeared before the Legal and Constitutional Affairs Senate Committee. VWL’s submission to the committee can be found here: Senate inquiry submission – revenge porn

They informed the committee that VWL supports specific criminal offences to address the legislative gap in relation to revenge porn. They noted that VWL is in favour of the introduction of a criminal offence that focuses on protecting victims from this insidious behaviour and holds perpetrators to account for their violent actions in the virtual space.

VWL representatives submitted to the committee that the formulation of a criminal offence should focus on the element of consent rather than whether an alleged perpetrator intended to cause harm.

The Senate Committee’s report, in response to the evidence, can be found here: Revenge_porn/report.pdf

The recommendations include that ‘the Commonwealth legislate offences for recording and/or sharing an intimate image without consent’ and that ‘the states and territories enact the same or substantially similar offences in their jurisdictions’.