Federal Government To Introduce “Carly’s Law” Legislation
Monday 6 March 2017 @ 12.20 p.m. | Crime
On March 2, Minister for Justice Michael Keenan announced that the Federal Government will introduce what it is calling an “evolved version of Carly’s Law”, which will make it an offence to “for an adult to use a carriage service to commit an act in preparation for, or planning to, cause harm to or engage in or procure sexual activity with a minor”. This will include people who misrepresent their age to a minor.
The measure is named after South Australian teenager Carly Ryan, who was murdered by an 47 year old man she met on the internet. The press release acknowledges the “tireless crusade” of her mother Sonya Ryan, who has “worked to achieve an outcome that would better protect young Australians in the online world.”
According to the press release:
“Carly’s Law will enable law enforcement agencies to take action against predators sooner and with greater consequence. It will give police the power to intervene before predators have a chance to act, and will also serve as a strong deterrent, with a tough new sentence of 10 years prison for convicted offenders.”
Previous Attempts
Senator Nick Xenophon and his Nick Xenophon Team party have previously made a number of attempts to pass Carly’s Law legislation. The Criminal Code Amendment (Misrepresentation of Age to a Minor) Bill 2016 is currently being considered by the Senate. The aim of the Bill was to “make it an offence for a person who is over 18 years of age to misrepresent their age to a person they reasonably believe to be under 18 years of age for the purposes of encouraging a physical meeting, or with the intent of committing an existing offence.” The Bill was originally introduced in February 2013, and was last re-introduced in October 2016. The Minister’s press release thanks “Senators Nick Xenophon, Skye Kakoschke-Moore and Derryn Hinch for their ongoing efforts to support Sonya Ryan and the Carly Ryan Foundation to see this measure achieved.”
Other Measures
The press release says that the introduction of Carly’s Law will build on the Government’s current work in the area, including the appointment of a working group which is reviewing existing and potential initiatives to combat child sex offenders. The working group is due to report before the end of 2017 on “operational aspects of sex offender registration schemes, post-sentence court-ordered schemes, the restriction of overseas travel by convicted child sex offenders and public notification schemes."
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