Tasmania Becomes Last Australian State to Outlaw Non-Consensual Sharing of Intimate Images
After years of victims being turned away by police with no clear law to apply, Tasmania's government has announced it will criminalise the sharing — or threatening to share — intimate images without consent, including AI-generated fakes.
Key points
- Tasmania announced on Saturday it will make non-consensual sharing of intimate images a criminal offence, becoming the last Australian state or territory to do so.
- The new laws will cover AI-generated deepfakes — fake explicit images made using artificial intelligence — as well as so-called "revenge porn".
- Earlier in 2024, 21 girls at a Tasmanian private school were targeted when AI-generated pornographic images of them circulated in a boys' group chat; no charges were laid.
- Draft legislation is expected to be released for public consultation before the end of 2024.
When Stephanie Nolan reported that intimate photos and videos of her had been shared online without her knowledge, the police told her they weren't sure what crime had even been committed. Tasmania's laws at the time were simply too outdated to cover what had happened to her.
She left the station, in her words, "in a vulnerable state of uncertainty."
One charge — just one — was eventually filed against the person responsible, even though multiple images and videos had been shared. That gap in the law is finally closing.
On Saturday, the Tasmanian state government announced reforms that will make it a criminal offence to share, or even threaten to share, intimate images of a person without their consent. Tasmania is the last jurisdiction in Australia to put this protection in place.
Why did it take this long?
Tasmania's existing laws simply didn't keep pace with how technology changed the way abuse happens. Police who wanted to help victims often found they had no clear charge to lay — leaving survivors like Nolan in legal limbo at their most vulnerable moment.
The new laws will cover a broad range of offences, including "revenge porn" (sharing real intimate images to humiliate or control someone) and AI-generated deepfakes — realistic fake explicit images created by artificial intelligence tools that can put a real person's face onto fabricated content.
The urgency is not hypothetical. Earlier this year, 21 students at a Tasmanian private school were targeted when AI-generated pornographic images of them were shared in a boys' group chat. Five boys left the school. No criminal charges followed, because there was no law to support them.
Jo Palmer, Tasmania's minister for women and the prevention of family and sexual violence, called the non-consensual sharing of intimate images "absolutely disgraceful" and said reports of this type of abuse had risen across the country.
Alina Thomas, CEO of advocacy organisation Engender Equality, welcomed the announcement but said the wording of the final legislation would matter enormously. Vague laws, she warned, make effective policing harder. She also called on technology companies to take more responsibility for illegal content on their platforms — arguing that individuals shouldn't have to fight that battle alone.
Nolan put it plainly: "The next person who goes into a police station to report won't leave feeling the way that I did."
Draft legislation is expected before the end of 2024, with a public consultation period to follow.
If you or someone you know has been affected by image-based abuse, contact your national or local support line for advice on reporting and next steps.
