Under new laws, child sex offenders are no longer able to travel freely out of Australia.
Some 20,000 convicted paedophiles in Australia are no longer able to freely leave the country under new laws aimed at preventing child sex offenders from travelling to Southeast Asia. It had an immediate impact, as the foreign minister explained:
"People who are on the national child sex register have committed the most serious child sex crimes including in some instances against children under the age of thirteen. I can report that today a registered child sex offender was stopped here at the smart gates and has been prevented from travelling overseas", said Julie Bishop.
Australian paedophiles are known to take cheap holidays in nearby Southeast Asia, to take advantage of the sex tourism markets.
