New Attorney-General Michelle Rowland called to implement national bestiality material laws

West Australian

3 days ago

New Attorney-General Michelle Rowland has been called to address 'pathetic' gaps in bestiality laws, where only three states currently outlaw materials showing acts of the animal torture.
While the act of bestiality is illegal, only NSW, Western Australia and Tasmania have banned the possession, distribution and production of materials depicting bestiality.
NSW Animal Justice Party MP Emma Hurst said the 'pathetic' gaps in legislation mean authorities don't have the means to convict criminals for committing the horrific crimes.
Ms Hurst, who championed stronger laws in NSW, has called for the Commonwealth Criminal Code to introduce new offences for using a carriage service to possess, produce or share animal sexual abuse materials within or outside Australia.
She's also calling for a federal taskforce to target offenders perpetrating these crimes.
'Many dangerous criminals are escaping conviction because of gaps in our laws. We must make sure our laws protect children and animals,' she told NewsWire.
'While further legislative changes are looking very hopeful in NSW, there is still the enormous issue that across the country, laws are still lacking.
'Given the gravity of the crimes, federal legislation in this space is sorely needed and should be urgently prioritised by the new federal Attorney-General.'
Ms Hurst used the example of Northern Territory man Adam Britton who was slapped with a 10 year and five month jail sentence after he pleaded guilt to 60 charges of bestiality, animal cruelty and possessing child abuse material in August 2024.
However authorities were unable to charge or convict him of the creation and sharing of bestiality materials due to the lack of such laws in NT legislation.
'There is no law in the NT to prohibit the distribution of such materials so while he was convicted of bestiality, he escaped charges for distribution,' he said.
RSPCA NSW general counsel Kathryn Jurd, who has spent eight years running and prosecuting cases for the RSPCA, said differences in state legislation should not act as a barrier to law enforcement charging people with offences which reflect the full extent of their actions.
'When law enforcement discover these heinous crimes, they need to be in a position to charge in a way that reflects exactly what the person has done, what the evidence is capable of proving they have done,' she said.
Speaking to the seriousness of cases involving animal sexual abuse material, she said features which 'regularly reoccur' in bestiality cases included the presence of children in the footage, and perpetrators being found in possession of child sexual abuse material.
'People who create animal sexual abuse material don't abide by state lines and the point of the creation of this type of material is often for it to be disseminated globally,' she said.
'Most people would support uniformity, particularly on a topic where there's so much consensus for really strong criminal law coverage across Australia.'
While Ms Rowland declined to comment on Ms Hurst's demands, stating that they were a state issue, new shadow attorney-general Julian Leeser gave in-principle support to strengthened laws.
'Acts of bestiality are completely abhorrent,' he said.
'Should the Albanese government seek to introduce national laws to prohibit the creation, possession, and distribution of bestiality materials, I am sure on principle we would be predisposed to support it,' he said.