Probe Into Link Between Harmful Pornography and Health, Emotion

NSW will look into the impacts of pornography on health as people consume the content at increasingly young ages. (Sean Gallup/Getty Images)

A parliamentary investigation into the repercussions of “harmful pornography” on health and mental wellbeing will be held in New South Wales (NSW).

Attorney General Michael Daley has written to the chair of the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Social Issues, Sarah Kaine, to request this inquiry.

The Labor government is keen to deal with growing community concern about the exposure of children to violence and extreme pornography.

This comes after an eSafety Commissioner report released in 2023 found 75 percent of teenagers aged 16 to 18 had accessed online pornography. Nearly one-third of these individuals had seen the online pornography prior to the age of 13.

This report also raised concerns about readily accessible mainstream pornography containing “depictions of sexual violence” and “degrading sexual scripts about women.”

The content to be investigated will include pornography that is “violent and misogynistic” on mental, emotional, and physical health.

The inquiry will also look into the dissemination of deepfake or AI-generated content.

It will also study the impacts of pornography on minority groups, including First Nations, culturally and linguistically diverse, LGBT, and those living with a disability.

NSW Women’s Safety Commissioner Hannah Tonkin raised concerns children were being exposed, often inadvertently, to extreme forms of pornography.

“The increasingly young age of exposure is concerning because pornography often contains harmful messages and representations that normalise violence against women,” she said.

“This exposure comes at a crucial time in children’s lives when they are developing attitudes about gender roles, sex and relationships.

Tonkin highlighted the urgent need to improve understanding on the impact of attitudes and behaviour, “particularly those of boys and young men.”

“I welcome this timely inquiry and look forward to its findings,” she said.

Meanwhile, Daley said a generation of young men were growing up with “unprecedented access” to the online world.

“This includes early and easy access to pornography, with harmful depictions of the treatment of women,” the attorney general said.

“This inquiry, will for the first time in our state provide insight into the full impacts of harmful pornography online and young people’s access to it.”

The terms of reference of the inquiry will include a broad range of issues including body impact, age of first exposure, minority groups, current education programs, current restrictions and support available to parents, carers and children.

Minister for the Prevention of Domestic Violence and Sexual Assault Jodie Harrison said the government must address the scourge of domestic violence and sexual assault from every angle.

“Importantly that includes the normalisation of misogyny and violence online,” Harrison said.

“The ease at which children and young people are able to access this content is extremely concerning and it is vital we undertake this inquiry and continue this important conversation.”

A recent Our Watch report card, released in late July, reveals a 66 percent drop in women killed by men in the last three decades.

The report (pdf) also found 90 percent of Australians reject many aspects of violence against women.

Link between Pornography and Violence

Meanwhile, Liberal Shadow Assistant Minister for Attorney General Susan Carter recently raised concerns abut the link between pornography and violence in the NSW parliament.

“In Australia today, most young people are consuming pornography two years before their first in‑person sexual encounter. This is not the type of pornography which we often describe as vanilla. It is usually violent and sexually aggressive,” she said in Parliament on May 8.

“As children and young people, we learn by mimicry. It is through mimicking sounds and the associated pleasure we get in happy responses from our parents that we learn our first words.”

Carter said she was encouraged by the recognition in the parliamentary chamber that the link between pornography and violence was an “important issue.”

She noted an Our Watch background paper highlights the fact that many young people initially view pornography as “educative.”

“They view it first in order to mimic and learn how to be sexually intimate. Yet what this pornography is teaching our young people is that the objectification and aggressive treatment of women is not only normal but expected.”

She highlighted it was not just young men who are learning this but also young women and was concerned that their “view of what they should expect is becoming skewed by pornography.”

Meanwhile, Australia’s eSafety Commissioner has recently given big tech companies six months to develop safety rules to protect children from graphic pornography.