Foreign Minister Julie Bishop has announced a new government policy that prohibits anyone on the child sex offenders registry from international travel.
The move will see the 20,000 people on the registry have their passports cancelled in a bid to avoid any more Australians travelling overseas to participate in child sex abuse crimes.
It comes after a number of high-profile cases that saw Australian paedophiles travel to South East Asia to abuse young victims.
Independent Senator Derryn Hinch celebrated the news after months of campaigning for the policy change in Canberra.
He told Fairfax the move would protect children around the world from “child rape holidays”.
“It would be the best thing I’ve achieved in my time here,” he said, reports the Sydney Morning Herald.
“People say what about their civil rights? Well when you rape a child, you lose some of your civil rights, from my point of view.”
The move will no doubt be welcome news to many, but also raises an important question: While we’re busy keeping sex offenders in, should we also be keeping them out?
There are currently no laws in Australia that prohibit sex offenders from entering the country.
Anyone wanting to enter Australia must apply for a visa and answer questions about criminal history, but past misdeeds do not necessarily mean your visa won’t be approved.
The Australian visitor visa specifically asks applicants if they’ve ever been named on a sex offender register or been found guilty of a sexually based offence involving a child, but those who answer ‘yes’ are not necessarily banned from entering the country.