Objectionable material

A publication is deemed to be objectionable if it describes, depicts or otherwise deals with these subjects in a way that's likely to cause injury to the public good.

Who’s responsible

The Censorship Compliance Unit at the Department of Internal Affairs (DIA) takes complaints about this topic. 

What they’ll do

Objectionable material is defined under the Films, Videos, and Publications Classification Act 1993. It’s an offence to possess or distribute any form of objectionable material.

DIA investigate and sometimes prosecute people who deliberately collect or find ways to distribute objectionable or banned material to other people via the internet.

They also:

• work with overseas agencies to share information about people using the internet to distribute objectionable material
• help ensure that banned publications are not made available to members of the public
• operate the Digital Child Exploitation Filtering System
• answer queries and provide advice.

We recommend you report objectionable material directly to DIA.

Report objectionable material to DIA