Young Australians are increasingly at risk of being placed on the sex offenders register if they continue to send naked pictures of themselves, authorities say.
The act known as sexting leaves young people liable to charges of child pornography offences, even if the sexting was consensual, because they are distributing images of an underage person.
Victorian MP Clem Newton-Brown says current child pornography laws weren't created at a time when 16-year-olds were sexting and recommended laws be updated so if people are within the same age range, they won't violate the law.
A new smartphone app has been launched to help guide young people through the law surrounding sexting, cyberbullying and age of consent.
Kristen Hilton, director of civil justice, access and equity at Victoria Legal Aid, says it is important to create an app to "translate the information into something that kids are going to use, then it's going to be more effective".
Below the Belt provides information for every Australian state and territory.
The free app includes a diary to keep track of bullying and allows the user to store offensive texts and posts.
Users can also send informational e-cards to friends and even to a person who has sent an offensive message, letting that person know they feel disrespected.
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