Australian government forces ISPs to join child porn crackdown

CANBERRA - Internet service providers (ISPs) will face fines of up to A$55,000 ($60,500) if they can be used to access child pornography and do not refer the information to the police.

Justice Minister Chris Ellison said today ISPs and internet content hosts (ICHs) would have strict obligations to report online child pornography to the Australian Federal Police from March 1.

"It cannot be emphasised enough that behind every horrid piece of child pornography is a tragic case of an abused defenceless child, somewhere in the world," Senator Ellison said.

Under the new laws, an ISP or ICH will face penalties of A$11,000 for the individual and A$55,000 for body corporates if they are made aware that their service can be used to access material that they have reasonable grounds to believe is child pornography or child abuse material and they do not refer details of that material to the AFP within a reasonable time.

It will also be a federal offence, carrying a penalty of 10 years' jail, for a person to use the internet to access, transmit or make available child pornography or child abuse material.

This is on top of the current state and territory penalties.

Senator Ellison said it was hoped that internet providers would work closely with the AFP's online child exploitation team and the Australian High Tech Crime Centre to crack down on child exploitation and paedophile networks.

The AFP last month announced it was also taking part in an international task force to prevent online child abuse.

- AAP