'Art no defence for child porn'

SYDNEY - An overhaul of New South Wales child pornography laws will mean painters and photographers will no longer be able to rely on a defence of artistic merit.

Nearly two years after police raided Melbourne artist Bill Henson's contentious exhibition, the NSW Government will legislate to force artists to account for their works, the Sunday Telegraph says.

A working party set up by the Government after the May 2008 controversy over Henson's child exhibits has recommended the artistic-merit defence be struck out.

The Sunday Telegraph says Attorney-General John Hatzistergos strongly supports the move, and the Government is expected to legislate when Parliament resumes next month.

Hatzistergos will release the recommendations by the NSW Child Pornography Working Party, set up after the Henson scandal.

The group, comprising Department of Public Prosecutions, police and Legal Aid representatives, was instructed to draw a clear line between pornography and art. Its report recommends art not be a consideration when reviewing images thought to be pornographic.

Hatzistergos said the proposed laws would cover the production, distribution and possession of child pornography. "The fact that it is art cannot be used as a defence. The report recommends that once such material has been found to be unlawfully pornographic, whether or not it is intended to be art is irrelevant," he said.

- AAP