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The Australian Government has formalised some laws about what is illegal Internet content in Australia in the Broadcasting Services(Online Services) Amendment Act 1999 (http://www.alrc.gov.au/inquiries/title/alrc55/issues.htm).
The responsibility of managing complaints against content infringing these laws is the responsibility of the Australian Broadcasting Authority (ABA).
The ABA will only take action in response to complaints about Internet content that is illegal in one of the following categories (mostly defined in seperate Acts) by contacting the content provider (owner of the website) with a 'take down notice'.
- copyright
- content control
- privacy
- racial vilification
- online gambling
- email spam
If the content provider does not comply with the notice, legal proceedings and fines are applied.
The take down notice relieves any legal responsibility on the part of the ISP or hosting service in regard to guarantee of service. There have been succesful legal cases against Internet hosts for taking content down without appropriate communications. An Internet host is bound by laws against discrimination.
There are three codes of practice for Internet Service Providers and Internet Content Providers which clarify the correct procedure for dealing with complaints about content.
If you find content on the internet which you believe infringes any of the Acts, you should contact the owner of the website, then the organisation that hosts the website and finally the Australian Broadcasting Authority.
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