The legislation aims to extend current offences related to the production and distribution of intimate images without consent to those generated by Artificial Intelligence (AI).

In NSW, it is already illegal to record or distribute intimate images of an individual without their consent or threaten to do so. This includes digitally altered intimate images.

The existing laws will be revised to criminalize the creation of sexually explicit deepfakes intended to realistically depict a real, identifiable person, with penalties of up to three years in prison.

Distributing or threatening to distribute such images, even if not created by the person distributing them, will also be punishable by up to three years of imprisonment.

Additionally, the NSW government plans to criminalize the creation, recording, and distribution of sexually explicit audio, whether authentic or digitally fabricated to mimic a real, identifiable person.

These legal updates will align NSW with other regions that have outlawed the non-consensual creation and distribution of adult-oriented materials, regardless of the method used to create them.

Attorney General Michael Daley said the law had to catch up with technology to protect people, particularly young women, from image-based abuse.

“This bill closes a gap in NSW legislation that leaves women vulnerable to AI-generated sexual exploitation,” he said.

“We are ensuring that anyone who seeks to humiliate, intimidate or degrade someone using AI can be prosecuted.”