15 October 2017
The Turnbull Government has welcomed the eSafety Commissioner’s announcement today about the delivery of the pilot for a new national portal for reporting instances of non-consensual sharing of intimate images (colloquially known as image-based abuse or revenge pornography).
In 2015 the Government committed $10 million to support victims of image-based abuse, including $4.8 million of funding for the eSafety Commissioner to develop and implement this national online complaints portal.
The pilot is the very first step in delivering this very important initiative. The portal will allow victims to report instances of image-based abuse and give them access to immediate and tangible support that has previously been unavailable.
In today’s digital environment, instances of image-based abuse are all too common with one in five women aged 18 to 45 and one in four Indigenous Australians experiencing abuse.
The online complaints portal is a world-first and empowers those who are experiencing this type of abuse with practical information and a range of resources to take control.
The pilot phase of the portal will evaluate the volume and complexity of the reports received before a formal launch of the portal in early 2018.
The Government is undertaking a range of initiatives in the area of online safety to help keep Australians safe on the internet. Earlier this year the Government expanded the scope of the Office of the eSafety Commissioner to help all Australians, not just children.
The Office of the eSafety Commissioner has already:
-
· established a mechanism to report and remove harmful cyberbullying material on social media;
-
· launched a dedicated website for women’s safety online;
-
· launched the iParent portal providing parents and carers with advice on a range of online safety and digital content issues; and
-
· in conjunction with the Department of Social Services pioneered a new website for improving digital literacy for older Australians, including a digital portal to provide a one-stop-shop for information, tools and training materials.
The Government is also considering the outcomes of recent consultations on a proposed civil penalty regime which will target perpetrators and sites which host intimate images and videos which have been shared without consent.
For more information about reporting the non-consensual sharing of intimate images visit www.esafety.gov.au/imagebasedabuse