Page 1753 - Week 07 - Tuesday, 18 August 1992
Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . . PDF . . . .
So, as I say, Madam Speaker, it is not a matter that lends itself to a legislative solution, other than in a blanket ban which has been tried, for instance, in Queensland in the past, and has failed miserably. I would like to say, Madam Speaker, that I also find it very interesting that, whilst there has been a good debate on this matter, there has not been a strong party political division in the speakers; nor has there been a strong push for a legislative solution. I think I am correct in saying that. Again, I think that is probably the best course of action; we must look at what it is that is offensive and deal with it in an educative way.
One of the ways in which I have been dealing with the matter as a Minister is through participation in the Commonwealth-State Ministerial Council on the Status of Women. This is a body that has met a couple of times, most recently in June of this year in Darwin. It is interesting, I think, to note that there are at least three government leaders on that body. Mrs Kirner from Victoria, Mr Perron from the Northern Territory and I are members and senior Ministers from all other States as well as the Commonwealth and New Zealand participate. The issue of degrading portrayal of women is one which this body has taken up. At our last meeting, in fact, we agreed to ask the Standing Committee of Attorneys-General and censorship Ministers to develop some guidelines for classification of print and video material and we have asked them to look at three particular issues in regard to print and video material. The first issue is whether the material condones or incites violence against women. As Mrs Carnell pointed out, the purpose of many of these depictions is in relation to violence against women. We have asked them to look also at material that shows women in demeaning sexual poses and at the banner advertising of restricted magazines.
The council's decision to carry out this work follows on from a similar initiative taken in September last year by the same body. We asked for an issues paper to be prepared on the media portrayal of violence against women. The research undertaken for that paper covered the areas of, firstly, media response to family violence and sexual assault in particular; the approach taken by the media on matters of race, class and ethnicity; and, finally, whether the media generally reports violence against women as a crime. That body of research has been done. The paper examines also the effectiveness of current State and Commonwealth guidelines on the reporting of violence. The paper will be publicly available, Madam Speaker, when the work is completed. It will be an interesting contribution to the kind of debate we are having today. I do know also that all members of that ministerial conference take very seriously the issue of the portrayal of women. The debate we have had today would go a further step from the general debate in that ministerial conference. For that reason I find it very interesting.
In addition to that action taken at ministerial level and, indeed, action taken by the Standing Committee of Attorneys-General and censorship Ministers, I believe that the community has responded to this issue. We have seen, for instance, voluntary action taken by a number of newsagents and supermarkets to try to display these publications in a way that causes less offence to their customers. In my local area, whilst I do not recall any outlet having gone as far as blinder racks, certainly a number of retailers have lifted their displays up from floor level, so that they cannot actually be seen by small children. That is a sensible step to have taken. A number of them also have displayed the magazines and publications in such a way that only the title is visible. You cannot actually see the cover, just the title. Obviously, purchasers know what they are looking for, in general terms, and purchase by title, rather than by the incitement of a cover which would cause offence. There is no doubt that many of these depictions do cause offence.
Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . . PDF . . . .