Enhancing Online Security Bills Introduced Into Parliament

Yesterday (3 December 2014), the Commonwealth House of Representatives introduced the  introduced Enhancing Online Safety for Children Bill 2014 and its accompanying bill, the Enhancing Online Safety for Children (Consequential Amendments) Bill 2014.

These purpose of these Bills is to implement the Australian Government election commitments to enhance online safety for children, including:

• establishing a Children's e-Safety Commissioner (Commissioner) to take a national leadership role in online safety for children; and
• and implementing an effective complaints system, backed by legislation that will get harmful cyber-bullying material targeted at an Australian child down quickly from large social media sites.

Background to the Bills

The Bills were developed following substantial public and stakeholder consultation, including consideration of more than 80 submissions received in response to the public discussion paper Enhancing Online Safety for Children released in January 2014.

Both of these Bills were introduced into the House of Representatives by the Parliamentary Secretary for Communications, Paul Fletcher on 3 December 2014.

Enhancing Online Safety for Children Bill 2014 (Cth)

The aim of this Bill is to:

• establishing the Children's e-Safety Commissioner and sets out the Commissioner‘s functions and powers;
• a complaints system for cyber-bullying material targeted at an Australian child;
• a 2-tiered scheme for the rapid removal from large social media services of cyber-bullying material targeted at an Australian child;
• a mechanism for the Commissioner to give end-user notices to require a person who posts cyber-bullying material targeted at an Australian child to remove the material, refrain from posting further material or apologise to the child for posting the material;
• enforcement mechanisms for the Commissioner;
• administrative provisions relating to the Commissioner;
• the establishment of the Children's Online Safety Special Account to fund the Commissioner‘s activities;
• enabling the Commissioner to disclose information in specified circumstances; and
• other miscellaneous provisions

Part 2 of the Bill also establishes the Commissioner and sets out the Commissioner‘s functions and powers. The Commissioner will be an independent statutory office within the Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA). A key function of the Commissioner will be to administer a complaints system for cyber-bullying material targeted at an Australian child.

Enhancing Online Safety for Children (Consequential Amendments) Bill 2014 (Cth)

This Bill deals with consequential matters arising from the enactment of the Enhancing Online Safety Bill 2014.

Schedule 1 to the Consequential Amendments Bill contains amendments to the Broadcasting Services Act 1992 (Cth) (the BSA) to:

• give the Commissioner information gathering powers similar to those currently possessed by the ACMA under Part 13 of the BSA;
• change references in Schedules 5 and 7 to the BSA from the ACMA to the Commissioner to reflect the transfer of administrative responsibility for the Online Content Scheme in those Schedules to the Commissioner; and
• make minor consequential amendments to provisions in those Schedules.

Schedule 2 contains consequential amendments to other Acts arising from the establishment of the Commissioner. Schedule 3 contains transitional provisions relating to the transfer of administrative responsibility for the Online Content Scheme in Schedules 5 and 7 of the BSA to the Commissioner.

Public Reaction To The Bills

In an article published in the Canberra Times, it has been reported that with the introduction of the proposed new measures contained in the Bills that it will be a step in the right direct to help combat cyberbullying for Australian children.

In 2013, one in five young Australians aged eight to seventeen faced cyberbullying, according to recent research led by the UNSW's Social Policy Research Centre.

The Canberra Times article went on to say:

TimeBase is an independent, privately owned Australian legal publisher specialising in the online delivery of accurate, comprehensive and innovative legislation research tools including LawOne and unique Point-in-Time Products.

New bill gives government teeth to tackle cyberbullying

Enhancing Online Safety for Children Bill 2014 and Enhancing Online Safety for Children (Consequential Amendments) Bill 2014 – Supporting material from TimeBase LawOne Service.