Victoria recently amended their Crimes Act to create an offence for sharing intimate issues of another person with a third party without the consent of the other person.
Another change was legislative protection for minors (under the age of 18) who share with each other pictures of another minor less than two years younger than themselves.
Equivalent laws do not yet exist in NSW.
Read more at: http://www.abc.net.au/news/2014-08-21/teen-sexting-outlawed-in-tas/5686398
http://www.sbs.com.au/news/article/2013/12/11/victorias-new-sexting-laws-protect-minors
Child pornography law in NSW
It is an offence under s 91H of the Crimes Act 1900 to produce, disseminate or possess child abuse material. The maximum penalty is 10 years’ imprisonment. There are similar provisions under the Commonwealth Criminal Code 1995 for interstate and overseas child pornography offences.
Child pornography offences are fairly widely defined in the legislation. This means that underaged persons in intimate relationships are technically committing child pornography offences when they share intimate images with one another. While police and prosecutorial discretion go some way to protecting young people from being convicted of crimes they inadvertently commit, this clear gap in the law ought to be addressed by the NSW Parliament, as has occurred in Victoria.
For more discussion on this issue, have a read of Crofts, T., Lee, M. (2013). ‘Sexting’, Children and Child Pornography. Sydney Law Review, 35(1), 85-106 at http://www.austlii.edu.au/au/journals/SydLRev/2013/4.html
Image credit ABC News.
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