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The NSW government has bolstered protections against the creation and use of harmful deepfakes and other image abuse with the passing of new legislation.
The state government passed amendments to the Crimes Act 1900 in the form of the Crimes Amendment (Intimate Images and Audio Material) Bill 2025 yesterday (18 September).
The new legislation makes the production of any sexually explicit deepfakes that intend to mimic real people a criminal offence, with a punishment of up to three years in prison.
“Sharing or threatening to share such images, even if the person hasn’t created them, is also a crime punishable by up to three years’ jail,” the NSW government said in a release.
“In addition to these new offences, the government has criminalised the non-consensual creation, recording and distribution of sexually explicit audio, whether real or designed to sound like a real, identifiable person.”
The government said it is already an offence to “record or distribute” sexually explicit or intimate images of someone without their consent, or to blackmail them using the images as leverage. While this included digitally altered images, AI-created images were not covered until the amendments passed this week.
“There is no place for gender-based abuse in NSW, and that includes through the use of deepfakes,” said NSW Premier Chris Minns.
“These are important changes to keep women safe from this insidious form of abuse.
“This legislation sends a clear message: those who seek to target women using this technology now face serious consequences.”
The government said it will be empowering prosecutors and law enforcement with tools to deal with offenders creating explicit deepfake content.
“I’m pleased that we have seen the passage of legislation to criminalise AI-driven deepfakes. Sexually explicit deepfakes can be weaponised to cause immense harm in the real world,” said NSW women’s safety commissioner, Hannah Tonkin.
“Women and girls are the main targets of deepfakes, and the impacts of their dissemination can be devastating.
“This legislation sends an important message that image-based abuse will not be tolerated, and it brings NSW in line with other jurisdictions that are striving to limit the impacts of this terrifying technology.”
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