Chaney's ban on AI child abuse tools lapsed without a vote
Kate Chaney MP is an independent member of Parliament, not part of any party. She wanted new crimes for getting, sharing or training computer tools whose main job is to make child abuse material. Each crime came with up to 15 years in jail. The bill was dropped in March 2026.
Official name: Criminal Code Amendment (Using Technology to Generate Child Abuse Material) Bill 2025
- It would have been a crime to download, use or share a tool built mainly to make child abuse material.
- It would also have been a crime to collect data to train such a tool.
- Both crimes came with up to 15 years in jail.
- Police, courts and approved researchers had a defence.
- The bill was dropped from Parliament's to-do list on 3 March 2026. It never got a vote.
Who it affects
- Children: The bill aimed to protect them from abuse material made with computer tools.
- People who get or share these tools online: They could have faced up to 15 years in jail.
- People who gather data to train such tools: They could also have faced up to 15 years in jail.
- Police, spy agency staff and approved researchers: They had a defence when doing their lawful jobs.
AI makes child abuse images
Some computer programs can now make real-looking pictures and videos. You just type a short request. This is called generative AI. AI means artificial intelligence, or computers that seem to think.
The bill came with notes that explain it. They say some people use these tools to make illegal content. It shows the sexual abuse of children. The notes call this a growing threat.
Making and sharing child abuse material is already a crime in Australia. This bill went after the tools themselves. It also went after the data used to build them.
Who brought the bill
This was a private bill. That means the government did not bring it. Kate Chaney MP brought it to the House of Representatives on 28 July 2025. That is the lower house of Parliament.
Getting or sharing the tools
The bill would have added new crimes to the Criminal Code. That is the main list of national crimes.
The first crime was about a tool whose only or main job is to make child abuse material. You could not download it or open it. You could not give it to someone or let them use it. You could not offer it to anyone either.
The crime only counted if the person used a phone or internet service to do it. The law calls this a carriage service. The top penalty was 15 years in jail.
The test looked at the tool's main job. Most people use a general picture app for normal things. So that kind of app would not count.
Collecting data to train them
AI tools learn from huge piles of data, such as images. A program can copy that data from websites by itself. This is called scraping.
The second crime was about collecting, scraping or sharing data over the internet. It applied if the person meant to train or build a tool made mainly for child abuse material. The top penalty was also 15 years in jail.
Say a person runs a program that copies thousands of images from social media. They plan to train such a tool with them. That would have been a crime.
Who would have a defence
A defence is a reason the law accepts for doing something that would be a crime. The bill gave a defence for acts that help the public. The act could go no further than needed.
Helping the public had a narrow meaning. It covered making sure people follow Australian laws and looking into crimes. It covered the work of the courts. It also covered science, medical or school research.
That research had to be approved in writing by one minister. That is the minister in charge of the Australian Federal Police, the national police force.
A second defence covered police and spy agency or security staff. They had to act in a fair and sensible way as part of their job.
A person using a defence would first need to point to some proof for it. Then the lawyers bringing the case would have to show it was not true.
Rights and costs
The MP who brought the bill wrote a statement on human rights. Every bill must come with one. It says the bill limits privacy and free speech. It says those limits are fair to protect children. It points to the Convention on the Rights of the Child. That is a United Nations deal on children's rights. The United Nations is a group of almost every country in the world.
The law would have started the day after it was signed into law. The notes say the bill would cost nothing.
Dropped after time ran out
Kate Chaney MP brought the bill on 28 July 2025. That day she also started the debate on its main idea.
The House never debated it or voted on it. On 3 March 2026, it was dropped from Parliament's to-do list. Under the House's rules, private bills not dealt with in time are dropped this way.
The bill will not become law in this form.
Its journey through Parliament
| 28 Jul 2025 | House of Representatives: Introduced and read a first time |
| 28 Jul 2025 | House of Representatives: Second reading moved |
| 03 Mar 2026 | House of Representatives: Removed from the Notice Paper in accordance with (SO 42) |