Tough new penalties for selling obscene magazines to minors

20/2/02
People who sell or supply extreme, sexually explicit publications to minors will face tough new penalties of $15,000 or 18 months' jail under legislation introduced to Parliament today.
Attorney General Jim McGinty said supplying these materials to a minor was a serious offence that required a strong deterrent.
If the offender was a corporation, Mr McGinty said the fine would be five-fold at $75,000.
At present, the maximum penalty for selling or supplying a restricted publication to a minor is $5,000 or six months' jail, or $25,000 for a business.
Mr McGinty said he was also strengthening provisions in the Censorship Act that currently allow parents or guardians to supply explicit restricted publications to their children.
"Under existing law, a special exemption allows parents to legally provide their children with any type of restricted publication," he said.
"It's a strange anomaly, and I am surprised the previous MInister supported it.
"Restricted publications contain a wide spectrum of material, ranging from nudity and simulated sex right through to explicit consensual sexual activity.
"Under our legislation, the more extreme publications will now be classified as Restricted Category 2, and it will be an offence for anyone to sell or supply them to minors, including parents and guardians."
Mr McGinty said people supplying RC (refused) classification films to minors would also be targeted.
While 'selling' RC videos currently attracts a penalty of $15,000 or 18 months' jail, the offence of 'supplying' these films is dealt with through a possession charge that attracts a lesser fine of $10,000.
"RC films are so extreme, they have been banned by the classification authorities, so supplying them to minors is in my view extremely serious," Mr McGinty said.
"As a result, I have inserted a new offence into the Censorship Act, with a penalty of $15,000 or 18 months' jail, for anyone who supplies an X (sexually explicit) or RC (refused) film to a minor."
Mr McGinty said penalties for a raft of other offences would also be increased, bringing them more into line with other States. He said a review of the WA legislation had found many offences here attracted much lower penalties.
The changes are part of a major overhaul of WA's outdated censorship laws, which includes disbanding the WA Censorship Advisory Committee and making WA a full participant in the National Co-operative Censorship Scheme (NCCS).
The move will end years of Commonwealth-State duplication where WA conducted its own assessments and classifications for books and magazines, while other States adopted Commonwealth classifications.
Mr McGinty said the changes would finally allow uniform national censorship laws, with the Commonwealth able to determine all classifications across Australia, using guidelines agreed to by all State and Territory Ministers.
He also took a further step in his plan to divert minor offenders from prison by removing prison sentences as a penalty option under the Censorship Act for all but the most serious offences.
"The substantial fines available under the Act provide a strong deterrent and are generally the most appropriate penalty, except for serious offences such as the sale of 'refused' pornographic material or the provision of extreme, explicit materials to a minor," Mr McGinty said.
Attorney General's office: 9220 5000