Supplementary submission on the Criminal Code Amendment (Protecting Minors Online) Bill 2017
The supplementary submission to the Senate Legal and Constitutional Affairs Legislation Committee was prepared by the Law Council. The Law Council appreared before the Committee on Friday 2 June 2017 as part of the inquiry into the Criminal Code Amendment (Protecting Minors Online) Bill 2017.
The Law Council maintains the recommendations of its submission dated 3 May 2017 that the Bill should not be passed in its current form due to a number of problematic features of the proposed section 474.25C Criminal Code Act 1995 (Cth) offence (using a carriage service to prepare or plan to cause harm to, engage in sexual activity with, or procure for sexual activity, persons under 16).
However, based on discussions at the hearing, the Law Council understands that the Committee is generally supportive of the Bill. In light of this, the Law Council provides suggested drafting amendments to the proposed section 474.25C offence. The adoption of this option may allay some of the concerns raised in the Law Council's initial submission.
You can read the full submission below.