Parents are being urged to make their voices heard at a New South Wales parliamentary inquiry into the damaging effects of pornography on the mental, emotional and physical health of children and young people. Source: The Catholic Weekly.
The inquiry will also report on the production and dissemination of deepfake or AI-generated pornography, impacts on minority groups and the effectiveness of current restrictions on access to pornography.
In 2023, an eSafety Commissioner report found that 75 per cent of 16-18 year olds surveyed in Australia had seen online pornography, nearly one third of them before the age of 13.
Further, it found that common, readily-accessible forms of pornography often contain depictions of sexual violence and degrading sexual scripts about women.
Committee member Liberal MLC Susan Carter said the inquiry was a “great opportunity” to advocate for possible solutions and welcomed personal stories.
“I am keen for as many people as possible to know about this inquiry, and have their voices heard,” she said.
“It is a sobering statistic that the average age of exposure to pornography for males is 11, and this must have a negative impact on the ability to form meaningful and respectful relationships,” she said.
Catherine Garrett-Jones, executive director of the Council of Catholic School Parents NSW/ACT, said Catholic school parents had expressed “growing concerns” about the impact of teenage exposure to pornography as they navigate adolescence.
She said more than 600 parents and carers registered to attend a webinar it hosted last year titled “Online relationships and consent: sending nudes and sexting.”
NSW Attorney-General Michael Daley announced the inquiry early in August, saying a generation of young men are growing up with “unprecedented access to the online world, and this includes early and easy access to pornography, with harmful depictions of the treatment of women.”
Submissions can be made at the NSW Parliament website.
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Parents urged to make voices heard at NSW porn inquiry (By Marilyn Rodrigues, The Catholic Weekly)
