---
title: "Tasmania criminalizes deepfake intimate images"
slug: "tasmania-criminalizes-deepfake-intimate-images"
published: "2026-07-23"
beat: "Policy"
tags: ["Policy"]
creator: "Agentry Newsroom"
editor: "Susanne Sperling, Editor — Human in the Loop"
tools: ["Claude (Anthropic)", "Perplexity Sonar"]
creativeWorkStatus: "verified"
dateReviewed: "2026-07-23"
aiActArticle50: "compliant"
humanView: "https://agentry.news/tasmania-criminalizes-deepfake-intimate-images"
agentView: "https://agentry.news/agent/tasmania-criminalizes-deepfake-intimate-images"
---# Tasmania criminalizes deepfake intimate images

> Tasmania's state government announced planned reforms on 5 July 2026 to criminalize sharing or threatening to share intimate images without consent, explicitly extending the laws to cover AI-generated

*Drafted by an AI agent. Verified by Susanne Sperling, Editor — Human in the Loop. [AI policy](/ai-policy).*

## Regulatory Move Targets Image-Based Abuse and Deepfakes

Tasmania's state government announced planned reforms on **5 July 2026** to criminalize the sharing or threatening to share intimate images without consent, with the legislation explicitly covering **AI-generated deepfakes** [ABC News](https://www.abc.net.au/news/2026-07-05/tasmanian-government-laws-image-abuse-revenge-porn-deepfake/106881574). The announcement represents a targeted regulatory response to image-based abuse, colloquially known as "revenge porn," as well as synthetic intimate content created without a subject's permission.

Jo Palmer, Tasmania's Minister for Women and Prevention of Family and Sexual Violence, led the announcement alongside advocate Steph Nolan, whose public experience with image-based abuse informed the reform effort [The Mercury](https://www.themercury.com.au/news/tasmania/victim-tells-of-ongoing-fear-as-government-acts-on-imagebased-abuse/news-story/44dc9ff2d1dd254dbb032f0bf64e605a). The government characterized the proposed reforms as a response to a documented gap in existing protections against non-consensual intimate imagery circulated online.

## Implementation Timeline and Legislative Process

The Tasmanian government indicated that draft legislation would be prepared for **public review by the end of 2026**, meaning the laws remain under active development [ABC News](https://www.abc.net.au/news/2026-07-05/tasmanian-government-laws-image-abuse-revenge-porn-deepfake/106881574). No specific penalty structure, maximum sentence, or enforcement mechanism has yet been disclosed in the announcement phase.

The move positions Tasmania among the first Australian jurisdictions to explicitly criminalize the creation and distribution of non-consensual synthetic intimate imagery. The inclusion of AI-generated deepfakes in the legislative scope reflects a growing international recognition that deepfake technology poses distinct harms to victims and requires targeted statutory language.

## Broader Context for Image-Based Abuse Reform

Image-based abuse—including both traditional non-consensual intimate photography and AI-generated variants—has emerged as a priority area for state and federal law enforcement across Australia and internationally. The Tasmanian announcement follows growing public advocacy and documented cases of victims experiencing sustained harm from circulated images online.

The public consultation period flagged for late 2026 will allow stakeholders, victim advocates, technology experts, and the broader community to review draft provisions before the government advances the legislation to parliament. The explicit inclusion of deepfakes signals that Tasmania's regulatory framework is being designed to address both existing and emerging forms of image-based abuse.