Queensland Consolidated Acts Queensland Consolidated Acts(1) Subsections (2), (3) and (5) prescribe defences available to a person charged with an offence against section 228A, 228B, 228C or 228D.
(2) It is a defence for the person to prove that--
(a) the person engaged in the conduct that is alleged to constitute the offence for a genuine artistic, educational, legal, medical, scientific or public benefit purpose; and
(b) the person's conduct was, in the circumstances, reasonable for that purpose.
Example of something made for a public benefit--
a current affairs television program showing children being tortured during a civil war
(3) It is a defence for the person to prove that, at the time of the alleged offence--
(a) a classification exemption had been given to an entity for the material that is alleged to be child exploitation material; and
(b) the person engaged in the conduct that is alleged to constitute the offence--
(i) for a purpose for which the exemption was given; and
(ii) in a way that is consistent with the exemption, including any conditions imposed on the exemption.
Example--
A Brisbane medical school is given an exemption under the Classification of Computer Games and Images Act 1995, section 59, to allow the medical school to possess computer images of tortured children, and to distribute the images to its medical students. The exemption is subject to a condition that the medical students are not allowed to distribute the images to anyone, including to themselves at another computer. Amy, a medical student, sends a copy of the images to her home computer and also to her brother Bob's computer. Neither Amy nor Bob could claim a defence under subsection (3), because their possession of the images is not consistent with the exemption.
(4) Whether conduct was engaged in for a purpose mentioned in subsection (2)(a) or (3)(b)(i) is a question of fact.
(5) It is a defence for the person to prove that the material alleged to be child exploitation material is--
(a) a computer game that, under the Classification (Publications, Films and Computer Games) Act 1995 (Cwlth), is a film classified R or R 18+ or X or X 18+; or
(b) a computer game, film or publication that is classified as something other than RC.
(6) For subsection (5), the material may have been classified before, or may be classified after, the offence is alleged to have been committed.
(7) A certificate that states any of the following facts is evidence of that fact--
(a) whether a stated computer game, film or publication has been classified;
(b) if a stated computer game, film or publication has been classified--the classification given to the computer game, film or publication.
(8) In this section--
certificate means--
(a) a certificate under the Classification (Publications, Films and Computer Games) Act 1995 (Cwlth), section 87; or
(b) a certificate signed, or purporting to be signed, by--
(i) for a computer game--the computer games classification officer under the Classification of Computer Games and Images Act 1995; or
(ii) for a publication--the publications classification officer under the Classification of Publications Act 1991.
classification exemption means an exemption given under--
(a) for a computer game--the Classification of Computer Games and Images Act 1995, section 59; or
(b) for a publication--the Classification of Publications Act 1991, section 37.