Criminal Code Amendment (Using Technology to Generate Child Abuse Material) Bill 2025

# Criminal Code Amendment (Using Technology to Generate Child Abuse Material) Bill 2025 ## What it does This bill creates new crimes specifically targeting the use of technology—especially AI—to create child abuse material. It makes it illegal to download, share, or help someone access such technology, and it also outlaws collecting data online if you're planning to train AI systems for this purpose. ## Why it matters Child abuse material causes severe harm to real children, and AI tools that can generate fake versions create new pathways for this crime. This law closes legal gaps that currently exist around technology-enabled abuse, giving authorities concrete offences to prosecute. ## Key details - **The penalties are serious**: Up to 15 years in prison for downloading/sharing the technology, and the same for collecting data to train it - **It covers AI specifically**: The law mentions "artificial intelligence technology" by name, reflecting how the crime is evolving - **It comes into force immediately**: The law takes effect the day after it receives Royal Assent (the Governor-General's approval) - **Absolute liability on one element**: You can't claim you didn't know you were using the internet—prosecutors don't need to prove intent on that part