Western Australia publishes child sex offender register

Australia’s first online child sex offender register has gone live in the state of Western Australia

The Community Protection Website enables anyone to enter their address and see if any convicted paedophiles are living in the area. Western Australia police say there are 120 people who could be named on the site and claim this online tool will help keep children safe.

The initial list on the website contains descriptions and details of nine convicted paedophiles who the police cannot trace. Liza Harvey, Western Australia’s Police Minister said it was a difficult “balancing act” between community safety and the ability of the police to keep track of and manage sex offenders.

Many Australians are not so convinced arguing this website may lead to violence and vigilantism. The Criminal Lawyers Association in Australia have argued against the publication of the sex offenders list arguing it would lead to attacks possibly on “wrongly identified” people.  The lawyers have also queried how the authorities would be able to stop the images and data being posted elsewhere both on and offline. Ms. Harvey said that the Government of Western Australia will not tolerate any vigilante attacks and reiterated that republishing information from the website would be a criminal offence.

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