Outlawing ‘Posting and Boasting’
Thursday 4 September
Second Reading Debate - Summary Offences (Prohibition of Publication of Certain Material) Amendment Bill 2025
Ms CLANCY (Elder) (17:23): I rise today in support of the Summary Offences (Prohibition of Publication of Certain Material) Amendment Bill 2025, which seeks to amend the Summary Offences Act 1953.
The bill before us today is about respect, it is about dignity and it is about ensuring the most vulnerable members of our community are not re-traumatised by the careless or sensationalist publication of offensive material.
We have seen a disturbing rise in the number of incidents where crimes are filmed and uploaded online to be bragged about. Violence or humiliation, or sometimes both, wrapped up as some kind of sick entertainment, is disgusting in and of itself, before we even start to consider the victims who are left to deal with the trauma, not just once during the experience but again and again as material posted online just does not go away.
This bill seeks to insert a new offence of publishing material depicting an offence in the Summary Offences Act. This includes photo, video or audio content of a prescribed offence. A prescribed offence includes an offence involving driving or operating a vehicle or vessel; an offence involving the use of or the threat of using violence, which captures fights and coward attacks; an offence involving a weapon; an offence involving interference with, damage to or destruction of property; theft or an offence of which theft is an element, such as robbery; or criminal trespass or an offence of which trespass is an element.
South Australians who publish this material with the intention to encourage, glorify or promote the conduct it betrays, whether or not they are involved in the offending themselves, will face a penalty of up to two years' imprisonment. The maximum penalty for this new posting and boasting offence cannot exceed the maximum penalty that may be imposed for the relevant prescribed offence, to ensure that they are not held to a stricter standard or account than the person who commits the crime that is being recorded. It is important to highlight that this new offence does not apply to the publication of such material for a legitimate public purpose, such as law enforcement or journalism.
When I was growing up, an incident in the schoolyard or out in the community would end when the police arrived or the courts had dealt with it. For children growing up today, a violent act can be replayed endlessly, with each share or repost forcing the victim to relive their trauma again and again. We have seen violent assaults circulated online before SA Police have even been called. We have seen schoolyard fights posted to TikTok or shared on Snapchat way before parents and caregivers have even been notified. In the most harrowing of cases, we have seen sexual assault and harassment filmed and posted online to dedicated revenge porn websites.
These are not isolated incidents; they are part of a wider trend that some of the darkest places of the internet are perpetuating onto our community and communities right across the world—a culture where crime is glorified, violence is amplified and trauma is monetised through more likes, shares, followers and subscribers. We need to say that enough is enough. The bill before us today takes a stand by criminalising posting and boasting in South Australia. Today also serves as an important reminder that compassion should come before content, and that the right response when someone is in danger is to actually help them, not to film them or pull out your phone.
The responsibility to see an end to this trend lies with each and every one of us. Social media companies also have a significant role to play to take stronger action to curtail this behaviour. Social media platforms and their algorithms should not reward violence and pain, and they should not continue to profit from violence while ignoring the trauma of victims. Instead, we can all play a role in encouraging a culture, particularly among younger South Australians, where pulling out a phone is not the first instinct when something goes wrong.
I think it is really, really important that we actually ensure we are educating young people about social media and the use of their phones. I am really pleased that the South Australian Malinauskas government took a lead by looking into a social media ban, which was quickly picked up by the federal Albanese government, and that that work is now being done.
I am sure a number of people in this place heard a speech by Australia's eSafety Commissioner, Julie Inman Grant, to the Press Club maybe a couple of months ago. There is a really interesting way that she is looking at the social media ban, because I know that there have been some concerns around the idea that young people also need to be educated around how to use social media and through that use of it they can learn. She spoke about swimming between the flags: you do not just put your child into the ocean without teaching them how to swim and giving them a lot of understanding of what they are walking into, what they could potentially experience and what the potential risks are.
By putting a social media ban in place, she spoke about how it is actually just putting the pause button on. It is about creating a delay so that children have that time to have more conversations with the people around them and to actually learn what the risks are and what the dangers are of social media before they enter into it.
We also saw the mobile phone ban that was implemented by our government, as the member for King also raised. We know that the stats show that it has caused a big difference. Talking to school leaders and students, as well as teachers and parents, we know that it has made a big difference to them in a really positive way. Instead of hearing nothing at lunchtime and recess, when we enter into the courtyard or go out into the yard, we can actually hear kids playing and talking to one another, which is a huge win. We have also seen a reduction in negative behaviour because of the mobile phone ban.
In closing, I would like to thank the Attorney-General and everyone in his team for bringing another bill to this place, which forms part of our growing reform agenda to make South Australia a safer, fairer place for all. I commend this bill to the house.