ONLINE predators who lie about their age and ask to meet children will be law breakers under a proposed new law.
It has been named "Carly's law" in memory of Carly Ryan who in 2007 was lured to a meeting with a 47-year-old man who had claimed he was 20, and murdered.
And it would acknowledge in law that there was no good reason for grown-ups to pretend to be someone else to minors they meet on the internet.
Giving a false age in online chats and arranging a meeting with a youngster would be illegal under the proposed law.
"The flaw in our current predator laws is that you need to show intent for a sexual purpose in terms of meeting someone," the sponsor of the legislation, independent Senator Nick Xenophon, told news.com.au today.
"At the moment, simply lying about your age and wanting to meet somebody for a seemingly innocent purpose, or a non-prurient purpose, is something that is not caught in the legislation.
"I'm hoping that this will resonate and show our online laws dealing with predators are clearly outdated. We've got to keep up with the way these predators operate."
Senator Xenophon said the crime would carry a lesser sentence than if the meeting was clearly for sexual purposes. It would be a "safety net'' to prevent dangerous meetings occurring.
"But if that makes predators think twice about lying about their age and wanting to meet a child then that would just make it more difficult for them to ply their evil behaviour," he said before introducing the Bill to Parliament.
The proposed law will be studied by the Senate Legal and Constitutional Affairs Committee.
It is being backed by Carly's mother Sonya Ryan who was was nominated as South Australia's Australian of the Year this year for her work in raising awareness of internet safety among young people
.