Latest news with #MichelleRowland
SBS Australia
a day ago
- Politics
- SBS Australia
SBS News in Easy English 30 July 2025
The United Nations' food agency says it's only getting half the necessary humanitarian assistance into Gaza despite Israel issuing new measures to enable more supplies to enter the Gaza. Senior Regional Program Adviser for the World Food Program, Ross Smith, says they are asking for the bare minimum of food and nutrition support. "We are not going to be able to address the needs of the population or the severity of the situation unless we can move in the volume that we need of humanitarian supplies. I think it's a very simple equation. And so if we're only able to move in half of that or some, we're not meeting what's required. The metric of success here is not the number of trucks. The metric of success is, are we able to alleviate the situation on the ground?" Minister for Communications Michelle Rowland has defended the Albanese government's decision to include YouTube in the under-16s social media ban. Speaking to Channel Nine, Ms Rowland says she had received fresh evidence from the eSafety Commissioner in June that found 70 per cent of children had been exposed to harmful content on YouTube. "YouTube does have educational features. I know my daughter's learned number blocks there. Teachers will still be able to send links home that you can use if you need to. They'll be able to use their own account in the classroom. YouTube kids still exists for when we do need our kids. There is a place for social media, obviously, but social media platforms have a social responsibility and with a stat like four out of 10 kids experiencing online harm. As the minister of communications, I had to act." A 4.6 magnitude earthquake has been recorded in Western Australia's Wheatbelt near the town of Wyalkatchem. Geoscience Australia's National Earthquake Alerts Centre recorded the earthquake at 2.01am local time. As at 7:35am AEST, 520 reports were made by the community via the Earthquakes Geosciences Australia website. Geoscience Australia Senior Seismologist Dr Trevor Allen says he expects the number of reports to increase. "The earthquake appears to have been felt extensively throughout southwestern WA, including in Perth, and has been felt as far away as Kalgoorlie. The region has been quite active for the last 12 months. In the last 12 months, Geoscience Australia has recorded over 130 earthquakes in the wild catchment area, and that's since the start of July last year." A world-first study aims to identify a person's genetic risk of developing multiple sclerosis, or MS, by using their DNA. The research will investigate why some people develop MS and others don't, even if they are exposed to the same common virus. University of South Australia is conducting the research. As the most common acquired chronic neurological disease affecting young adults, MS affects more than 33,000 Australians. Symptoms can include loss of motor function, loss of sensation, pain, vision changes and changes to thinking and memory. Australian teenager Maya Joint has defeated Canadian Leylah Fernandez little at the Canadian Open. Joint beat the Quebec native 6-4 6-1 in Montreal on Tuesday. The Australian, ranked 45th in the world and already a two-time WTA title winner this year, now meets American 28th seed McCartney Kessler.
ABC News
4 days ago
- Politics
- ABC News
Bill to criminalise AI child abuse apps to be introduced to parliament
A bill to criminalise the use of AI tools purpose-built to create child sexual abuse material is set to be introduced to parliament. Independent MP Kate Chaney, who will introduce the bill, says the urgent issue cannot wait for the government's wider response to artificial intelligence. While it is an offence to possess or share child abuse material, there is no criminal prohibition on downloading or distributing the wave of emerging AI generators designed to create the illegal material. The tools are becoming easier to access online, with some of the most popular visited millions of times. Their spread is diverting police resources and allowing material to be created offline, where it is harder to track. A roundtable convened last week to address the issue recommended swift action to make the tools illegal, prompting Ms Chaney's bill. "[This] clearly needs to be done urgently and I can't see why we need to wait to respond to this really significant and quite alarming issue," Ms Chaney said. "I recognise the challenges of regulating AI — the technology is changing so fast it's hard to even come up with a workable definition of AI — but while we are working on that holistic approach, there are gaps in our existing legislation we can plug to address the highest-risk-use cases like this, so we can continue to build trust in AI." Ms Chaney said she had met with Attorney-General Michelle Rowland, who she said recognised there was a gap in the law. The MP for Curtin's bill would create a new offence for using a carriage service to download, access, supply or facilitate technologies that are designed to create child abuse material. A new offence for scraping or distributing data with the intention of training or creating those tools would also be created. The offences would carry a maximum 15-year term of imprisonment. A public defence would be available for law enforcement, intelligence agencies and others with express authorisation to be able to investigate child abuse cases. "There are a few reasons we need this," Ms Chaney said. "These tools enable the on-demand, unlimited creation of this type of material, which means perpetrators can train AI tools with images of a particular child, delete the offending material so they can't be detected, and then still be able to generate material with word prompts. "It also makes police work more challenging. It is [getting] harder to identify real children who are victims. "And every AI abuse image starts with photos of a real child, so a child is harmed somewhere in the process." The federal government continues to develop its response to the explosion in the use of AI tools, including by enabling the tools where they are productive and useful. It is yet to respond to a major review of the Online Safety Act handed to the government last year, which also recommended that so-called "nudify" apps be criminalised. Members of last week's roundtable said there was no public benefit to consider in the case of these child abuse generators, and there was no reason to wait for a whole-of-economy response to criminalise them. Former police detective inspector Jon Rouse, who participated in that roundtable, said Ms Chaney's bill addressed an urgent legislative gap. "While existing Australian legislation provides for the prosecution of child sexual abuse material production, it does not yet address the use of AI in generating such material," Professor Rouse said. Colm Gannon, Australian chief of the International Centre for Mission and Exploited Children, said there was a strong consensus that the AI tools had no place in society and Ms Chaney's bill was a "clear and targeted step to close an urgent gap". In a statement, Attorney-General Michelle Rowland said the foremost priority of any government was "to keep our most vulnerable safe". "As Attorney-General, I am fully committed to combating child sexual exploitation and abuse in all settings, including online, and the government has a robust legislative framework in place to support this," Ms Rowland said. "Keeping young people safe from emerging harms is above politics, and the government will carefully consider any proposal that aims to strengthen our responses to child sexual exploitation and abuse." Ms Chaney said regulating AI must become a priority for the government this term. "This is going to have to be an urgent focus for this government, regulating the AI space," she said. "Existing laws do apply to AI, and so we need to plug the gaps in those so they continue to be fit-for-purpose. "We do also need a coordinated approach and a holistic approach so we can balance individual rights with productivity, global governance and trust in information and institutions. "The challenge is the technology moves fast and government does not move fast, so we need to get it right but we also need to plug these gaps as they appear. An inquiry established by former industry minister Ed Husic last year recommended the government take the strongest option in regulating AI by creating standalone laws that could adapt to the rapidly shifting technology.
The Advertiser
20-07-2025
- Politics
- The Advertiser
'Definite urgency' for action on child safety checks
Urgency is needed for a national register of childcare workers to improve safety, the attorney-general says, but admits it won't be a silver bullet for issues in the sector. Michelle Rowland said the federal government was working with states and territories on developing a national system, ahead of childcare safety laws being introduced to parliament this week. Implementation of such of a scheme will be brought up during a meeting of federal, state and territory attorneys-general in coming weeks. "We've got different states and territories with their own schemes for working with children checks and reportable conduct - they do not talk to other states and there is no system of oversight," Ms Rowland told Sky News on Sunday. "There is a definite, a definite urgency here and it's been there for some time. "The piece of work that we have ... is to ensure that we have a solution that allows near real-time reporting, access to data, making sure that we've got consistency and uniformity across that. The proposal has been fast tracked after employee Joshua Brown was charged with 70 sex offences against eight alleged victims under two at a childcare centre in Melbourne. Ms Rowland said recommendations for a national working with children scheme were made a decade ago following a royal commission into child sexual abuse. "We're now in 2025. What is important here is that we have action," she said. "We need to be honest, this is not going to resolve everything that we have in the system, but it will be a significant step forward." Laws to strip childcare centres of federal funding if they do not meet national standards will be brought to federal parliament when it resumes. Centres would be required to disclose if they have received a breach notice from the commonwealth. Opposition education spokesman Jonathon Duniam said the coalition would support the changes. "We do need transparency around this. When you're putting your child into the care and trust of people you generally don't know, and you're away for the day, you want to know if there are issues with the centre you're putting your kid into," he told ABC's Insiders program. "We again extend our support to the government to urge state and territory governments to come together and act with urgency to resolve all of the problems we have across the sector." Senator Duniam said he was "baffled" that mandatory security cameras were not in place in childcare centres. "Obviously we need to protect privacy of children, we need to manage those systems," he said. "But with the right safeguards and right management, I think it is essential as part of the protection against kids in this most vulnerable setting." Urgency is needed for a national register of childcare workers to improve safety, the attorney-general says, but admits it won't be a silver bullet for issues in the sector. Michelle Rowland said the federal government was working with states and territories on developing a national system, ahead of childcare safety laws being introduced to parliament this week. Implementation of such of a scheme will be brought up during a meeting of federal, state and territory attorneys-general in coming weeks. "We've got different states and territories with their own schemes for working with children checks and reportable conduct - they do not talk to other states and there is no system of oversight," Ms Rowland told Sky News on Sunday. "There is a definite, a definite urgency here and it's been there for some time. "The piece of work that we have ... is to ensure that we have a solution that allows near real-time reporting, access to data, making sure that we've got consistency and uniformity across that. The proposal has been fast tracked after employee Joshua Brown was charged with 70 sex offences against eight alleged victims under two at a childcare centre in Melbourne. Ms Rowland said recommendations for a national working with children scheme were made a decade ago following a royal commission into child sexual abuse. "We're now in 2025. What is important here is that we have action," she said. "We need to be honest, this is not going to resolve everything that we have in the system, but it will be a significant step forward." Laws to strip childcare centres of federal funding if they do not meet national standards will be brought to federal parliament when it resumes. Centres would be required to disclose if they have received a breach notice from the commonwealth. Opposition education spokesman Jonathon Duniam said the coalition would support the changes. "We do need transparency around this. When you're putting your child into the care and trust of people you generally don't know, and you're away for the day, you want to know if there are issues with the centre you're putting your kid into," he told ABC's Insiders program. "We again extend our support to the government to urge state and territory governments to come together and act with urgency to resolve all of the problems we have across the sector." Senator Duniam said he was "baffled" that mandatory security cameras were not in place in childcare centres. "Obviously we need to protect privacy of children, we need to manage those systems," he said. "But with the right safeguards and right management, I think it is essential as part of the protection against kids in this most vulnerable setting." Urgency is needed for a national register of childcare workers to improve safety, the attorney-general says, but admits it won't be a silver bullet for issues in the sector. Michelle Rowland said the federal government was working with states and territories on developing a national system, ahead of childcare safety laws being introduced to parliament this week. Implementation of such of a scheme will be brought up during a meeting of federal, state and territory attorneys-general in coming weeks. "We've got different states and territories with their own schemes for working with children checks and reportable conduct - they do not talk to other states and there is no system of oversight," Ms Rowland told Sky News on Sunday. "There is a definite, a definite urgency here and it's been there for some time. "The piece of work that we have ... is to ensure that we have a solution that allows near real-time reporting, access to data, making sure that we've got consistency and uniformity across that. The proposal has been fast tracked after employee Joshua Brown was charged with 70 sex offences against eight alleged victims under two at a childcare centre in Melbourne. Ms Rowland said recommendations for a national working with children scheme were made a decade ago following a royal commission into child sexual abuse. "We're now in 2025. What is important here is that we have action," she said. "We need to be honest, this is not going to resolve everything that we have in the system, but it will be a significant step forward." Laws to strip childcare centres of federal funding if they do not meet national standards will be brought to federal parliament when it resumes. Centres would be required to disclose if they have received a breach notice from the commonwealth. Opposition education spokesman Jonathon Duniam said the coalition would support the changes. "We do need transparency around this. When you're putting your child into the care and trust of people you generally don't know, and you're away for the day, you want to know if there are issues with the centre you're putting your kid into," he told ABC's Insiders program. "We again extend our support to the government to urge state and territory governments to come together and act with urgency to resolve all of the problems we have across the sector." Senator Duniam said he was "baffled" that mandatory security cameras were not in place in childcare centres. "Obviously we need to protect privacy of children, we need to manage those systems," he said. "But with the right safeguards and right management, I think it is essential as part of the protection against kids in this most vulnerable setting." Urgency is needed for a national register of childcare workers to improve safety, the attorney-general says, but admits it won't be a silver bullet for issues in the sector. Michelle Rowland said the federal government was working with states and territories on developing a national system, ahead of childcare safety laws being introduced to parliament this week. Implementation of such of a scheme will be brought up during a meeting of federal, state and territory attorneys-general in coming weeks. "We've got different states and territories with their own schemes for working with children checks and reportable conduct - they do not talk to other states and there is no system of oversight," Ms Rowland told Sky News on Sunday. "There is a definite, a definite urgency here and it's been there for some time. "The piece of work that we have ... is to ensure that we have a solution that allows near real-time reporting, access to data, making sure that we've got consistency and uniformity across that. The proposal has been fast tracked after employee Joshua Brown was charged with 70 sex offences against eight alleged victims under two at a childcare centre in Melbourne. Ms Rowland said recommendations for a national working with children scheme were made a decade ago following a royal commission into child sexual abuse. "We're now in 2025. What is important here is that we have action," she said. "We need to be honest, this is not going to resolve everything that we have in the system, but it will be a significant step forward." Laws to strip childcare centres of federal funding if they do not meet national standards will be brought to federal parliament when it resumes. Centres would be required to disclose if they have received a breach notice from the commonwealth. Opposition education spokesman Jonathon Duniam said the coalition would support the changes. "We do need transparency around this. When you're putting your child into the care and trust of people you generally don't know, and you're away for the day, you want to know if there are issues with the centre you're putting your kid into," he told ABC's Insiders program. "We again extend our support to the government to urge state and territory governments to come together and act with urgency to resolve all of the problems we have across the sector." Senator Duniam said he was "baffled" that mandatory security cameras were not in place in childcare centres. "Obviously we need to protect privacy of children, we need to manage those systems," he said. "But with the right safeguards and right management, I think it is essential as part of the protection against kids in this most vulnerable setting."
News.com.au
20-07-2025
- Business
- News.com.au
‘Important': Senior Labor minister defends PM's China trip, says ties collapsed under Coalition
A senior Labor minister has hit back at the opposition for criticising Anthony Albanese's lengthy state visit to China, saying the relationship with Australia's biggest trading partner had 'broken down' on the Coalition's watch. The Prime Minister spent much of the last week touting Australia's tourism, trade and research offerings in Shanghai, Beijing and Chengdu as part of a five-day business and diplomatic blitz. But the Opposition has argued the trip did not produce any tangible outcomes, despite several agreements being signed. Attorney-General Michelle Rowland said on Sunday she found the 'criticism quite extraordinary considering that since we came to government we have removed some $20 billion of trade impediments with China'. China imposed trade restrictions during a trade war with the Morrison-Coalition government. 'We now have in everything from wine to lobster, not to mention the fact that China is our single biggest trading partner,' Ms Rowland told Sky News. 'Our resources sector relies on that relationship.' She noted that Mr Albanese's visit was 'at the invitation … of China'. 'He went with a significant business delegation,' Ms Rowland. 'This is about creating jobs and extra trade opportunities for Australia, and it's important that we maintain this vital relationship.' The business community, represented by the Business Council of Australia (BCA), has praised the trip. The BCA was central to many of Mr Albanese's engagements in China, including high-level talks with Chinese officials and business leaders. With Mr Albanese meeting with Xi Jinping while a face-to-face with Donald Trump elusive, Ms Rowland was asked how she thought the China trip would go down in Washington. 'Our relationship with China is obviously important, as is our relationship with the United States,' she said. 'But here, there are different purposes. 'We will engage in the national interest wherever we can with China. 'We will always act in the national interest, and often we will disagree. 'But this is important from the perspective of our trade and of stabilising that relationship, which, quite frankly, had broken down under successive Liberal governments. 'And it's important that we have a government now that's acting in our national interest, in the interest of jobs and trade and certainty.' Ms Rowland, who sits on the National Security Committee, also downplayed concerns around the Trump administration's demand to hike Australian defence spending and its commitment to AUKUS – a $360bn submarine pact with the US and UK underpinning Canberra's defence strategy for the first half of the 21st century. While Mr Albanese was in China, the man leading the US review of AUKUS hinted Australia would need to guarantee support for the US if a conflict broke out in the Indo-Pacific over Taiwan. It came after the Financial Times reported Mr Colby asked Australia and Japan what they would do to defend the democratically self-governed island from China. Ms Rowland said she was 'not going to engage in hypotheticals' but that the Albanese government did 'not support a unilateral change' on Taiwan. 'What I will note, in going to a related issue about defence spending, that we recognise the US has called for this of a number of its allies,' she said. 'But again, I would point out that we are spending some $10bn over the forwards and nearly $60bn over the next decade on defence spending. 'We will act always in the national interest, and we will ensure that our capabilities are up to scratch.' She refused to comment on National Security deliberations on the US' AUKUS review, but said that 'there is nothing unusual about a new administration having a review of these relationships'. 'But again, we view AUKUS as fundamental to our relationship with the United States, and we are confident in its execution,' Ms Rowland said.
Yahoo
20-07-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
‘Important': Albo's China jaunt defended
A senior Labor minister has hit back at the opposition for criticising Anthony Albanese's lengthy state visit to China, saying the relationship with Australia's biggest trading partner had 'broken down' on the Coalition's watch. The Prime Minister spent much of the last week touting Australia's tourism, trade and research offerings in Shanghai, Beijing and Chengdu as part of a five-day business and diplomatic blitz. But the Opposition has argued the trip did not produce any tangible outcomes, despite several agreements being signed. Attorney-General Michelle Rowland said on Sunday she found the 'criticism quite extraordinary considering that since we came to government we have removed some $20 billion of trade impediments with China'. China imposed trade restrictions during a trade war with the Morrison-Coalition government. 'We now have in everything from wine to lobster, not to mention the fact that China is our single biggest trading partner,' Ms Rowland told Sky News. 'Our resources sector relies on that relationship.' She noted that Mr Albanese's visit was 'at the invitation … of China'. 'He went with a significant business delegation,' Ms Rowland. 'This is about creating jobs and extra trade opportunities for Australia, and it's important that we maintain this vital relationship.' The business community, represented by the Business Council of Australia (BCA), has praised the trip. The BCA was central to many of Mr Albanese's engagements in China, including high-level talks with Chinese officials and business leaders. With Mr Albanese meeting with Xi Jinping while a face-to-face with Donald Trump elusive, Ms Rowland was asked how she thought the China trip would go down in Washington. 'Our relationship with China is obviously important, as is our relationship with the United States,' she said. 'But here, there are different purposes. 'We will engage in the national interest wherever we can with China. 'We will always act in the national interest, and often we will disagree. 'But this is important from the perspective of our trade and of stabilising that relationship, which, quite frankly, had broken down under successive Liberal governments. 'And it's important that we have a government now that's acting in our national interest, in the interest of jobs and trade and certainty.' Ms Rowland, who sits on the National Security Committee, also downplayed concerns around the Trump administration's demand to hike Australian defence spending and its commitment to AUKUS – a $360bn submarine pact with the US and UK underpinning Canberra's defence strategy for the first half of the 21st century. While Mr Albanese was in China, the man leading the US review of AUKUS hinted Australia would need to guarantee support for the US if a conflict broke out in the Indo-Pacific over Taiwan. It came after the Financial Times reported Mr Colby asked Australia and Japan what they would do to defend the democratically self-governed island from China. Ms Rowland said she was 'not going to engage in hypotheticals' but that the Albanese government did 'not support a unilateral change' on Taiwan. 'What I will note, in going to a related issue about defence spending, that we recognise the US has called for this of a number of its allies,' she said. 'But again, I would point out that we are spending some $10bn over the forwards and nearly $60bn over the next decade on defence spending. 'We will act always in the national interest, and we will ensure that our capabilities are up to scratch.' She refused to comment on National Security deliberations on the US' AUKUS review, but said that 'there is nothing unusual about a new administration having a review of these relationships'. 'But again, we view AUKUS as fundamental to our relationship with the United States, and we are confident in its execution,' Ms Rowland said.
