Convicted paedophiles will have their passports cancelled to prevent them travelling overseas to offend again under tough new laws which Australia yesterday hailed as a "world first"
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Convicted paedophiles will have their passports cancelled to prevent them travelling overseas to offend again under tough new laws which Australia yesterday hailed as a "world first".
Legislation will be introduced to parliament this month making it illegal for registered offenders to leave or attempt to leave the country as part of a crackdown on child-sex tourism. "The new laws will prohibit registered child sex offenders from leaving Australia or holding Australian passports," Foreign Minister Julie Bishop said. "Last year alone, almost 800 registered child sex offenders travelled overseas from Australia."
She said many of them – who often go to developing countries in Asia – were in breach of obligations to notify police that they were travelling, with half of them considered as having medium-high or very-high risk of reoffending.
Justice Minister Michael Keenan said the new laws were "the strongest crackdown on child-sex tourism ever. No country has ever taken such decisive and strong action to stop its citizens from going overseas, often to vulnerable countries, to abuse kids. So this is absolutely a world first."
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