Leaders unite at Parliament House to fast-track protections against AI-enabled child sexual exploitation

Leaders from across the political spectrum will come together on Tuesday, 2 September to drive urgent action and ensure child protection remains at the forefront of Australia’s approach to AI. 

Convened by ICMEC Australia, this national conversation will unite parliamentarians, senior law enforcement leaders, and child safety advocates to focus on three urgent priorities: embedding baseline AI training for police investigations, initiating a 120-day review of facial recognition capability, and launching a nationwide prevention and awareness campaign on AI-enabled harms. 

Date: Tuesday, 2 September 2025. 

Roundtable: 7.45 am, Press conference: 9.15 am Location: Mural Hall, Parliament House, Canberra 

Leaders from across the political spectrum will come together on Tuesday, 2 September, to drive urgent action and ensure child protection remains at the forefront of Australia’s approach to AI. 

Convened by ICMEC Australia, this national conversation will unite parliamentarians, senior law enforcement leaders, and child safety advocates to focus on three urgent priorities: embedding baseline AI training for police investigations, initiating a 120-day review of facial recognition capability, and launching a nationwide prevention and awareness campaign on AI-enabled harms. 

Figures from the US National Center for Missing & Exploited Children (NCMEC) show a 1,325% surge in AI-related child sexual exploitation reports, rising from 4,700 in 2023 to more than 67,000 in 2024. AI is enabling the generation of CSAM, deepfakes, automated grooming and child-like AI personas, compounding a crisis where more than one in four Australians report childhood sexual abuse (ACMS, 2023).   

Kate Chaney MP and Zali Steggall OAM MP will join ICMEC Australia CEO Colm Gannon, who will lead the discussion alongside advocates Grace Tame and Sonya Ryan. They will be joined by victim identification and child protection specialists from state and federal police, as well as representatives from the Australian Institute of Criminology, the Office of the eSafety Commissioner, the National Children’s Commissioner and additional parliamentarians. 

This National Leaders’ Conversation follows ICMEC Australia’s Child Safety in the Age of AI Roundtable held at Parliament House on 17 July 2025 and builds on Kate Chaney MP’s Private Member’s Bill to amend the Commonwealth Criminal Code working to criminalise AI tools built for the purpose of generating child sexual abuse material. 

In Australia, emerging threats include “nudify” apps that generate sexualised images of minors, sexual extortion chatbots that coerce and blackmail, and AI-driven grooming in chat environments posing as peers or trusted adults. These risks are evolving rapidly and demand a coordinated national response. 

“We recognise AI as both a sword and a shield in the child protection landscape,” said Colm Gannon, CEO of ICMEC Australia. “AI can help safeguard children faster and reduce workplace harm for investigations by annotating or blurring harmful imagery. But Australia needs a clear, funded roadmap to harness the good and shut down the harm.” 

National Children’s Commissioner Anne Hollonds will also attend. “It’s time for coordinated national leadership and accountability to prevent harm to children from abuse facilitated by rapidly developing AI platforms. This is a critical time for action as we head into National Child Protection Week.” 

Priority outcomes: 

National prevention push – guidance for families and schools on AI risks such as nudify apps, deepfakes and chatbots, plus clear reporting steps. 

Facial recognition scoping – 120-day review of a law-enforcement-only tool to support victim identification and rescues, with strict guardrails. 

Police training – baseline training for all officers on AI-enabled child harm, from recognising offending methods to evidence handling and victim support. 

Interview opportunities:  

Colm Gannon, CEO, ICMEC Australia 

Kate Chaney MP, Federal Member for Curtin 

Anne Hollonds, National Children’s Commissioner     

Sonya Ryan, Founder and CEO, The Carly Ryan Foundation 

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