Queensland introduced a bill to criminalize creating intimate images or audio without consent through digital technology. Queensland proposes a maximum prison term of three years, extending its response beyond distribution. The measure covers altered recordings and fully generated depictions of identifiable people. The government cited harassment of students and teachers among its reasons for changing the law.
The Australian state of Queensland introduced a bill on October 27 to criminalize creating intimate digital images or audio without consent. The proposed maximum penalty is three years in prison. Existing restrictions address distribution; the new proposal targets the act of making the material as well.[1], [2]
The measure reaches beyond alterations to a real photograph or recording. It includes material created through image-editing software, generative AI and applications that depict a person as naked. Simulated people who closely resemble, or purport to represent, an identifiable real person also fall within the proposed scope.[1]
Attorney-General Deb Frecklington described the bill as closing a gap in the law. The government's explanation links the proposal to victims' privacy, dignity, safety and control over depictions of themselves. Both images and audio are included, even when the material does not originate in an actual recording.[1]
The government cited harassment and cyberbullying aimed at students and teachers in Queensland schools. It said accessible AI tools allow sexually explicit depictions to be made without the person's knowledge. Sexual-violence and domestic-violence organizations, victim-support services, online-safety specialists and legal and education stakeholders contributed to consultation. The government says that feedback helped shape the bill submitted to Parliament.[1]
