| Summary: | The ‘non-consensual sharing of intimate images’, more commonly
known as ‘revenge pornography’, is a widespread issue, which can have
devastating consequences for victims. However, it is an area where the law
has only just started responding to technology, with legislative reforms in
several states including South Australia, Victoria, New South Wales, the
Australian Capital Territory and Western Australia. This paper provides
an overview of relevant state and federal laws. Its main focus is to critique
the most recent Commonwealth legislative reforms to regulate the nonconsensual sharing of intimate images via a civil penalties regime. These
reforms were made by the Enhancing Online Safety (Non-Consensual
Sharing of Intimate Images) Act 2018 (Cth), which amended the Enhancing
Online Safety Act 2015 (Cth). This paper critiques the civil penalties
regime from a sex equality perspective, and makes suggestions to improve
the reforms so that victims are better protected and empowered.
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