This factsheet is a general guide only. It is not legal advice. Call the Legal Helpline on 1300 366 424 or text using Legal Chat via lsc.sa.gov.au for confidential advice about your situation.
It is legal for young people under the age of 18 to watch porn that shows adults engaging in consensual sexual activity.
It is illegal to watch, make, show or sell porn that shows people younger than 18 engaging in sexual activity. It is also illegal to show or sell indecent or offensive material.
This includes images and films that show violence or cruelty or anything that would offend reasonable people.
It is a crime to send, show or give pornography to a person under 18, even if you are also under 18 and even if you are in a private place like your home.
A sexual image or film that shows young people may be child exploitation material.
Under South Australian law, child exploitation material may be a film, image, cartoon or book designed to excite sexual arousal that:
This covers any material that is meant to be sexy and contains, or appears to contain, a person under 17.
Under federal law, child abuse material includes sexual images of anyone who is (or looks to be) under 18.
Even if a young person says that they agree to be in the image or film, it is still considered child exploitation material.
It is an offence to make, send, post online, have, or ask someone for child exploitation material. This includes sending sexual images of yourself to others if you are under 18.
It is illegal to use phones or the internet to groom people under the age of 17. This includes sending sexual images to try to get a young person interested in sexual activity.
If the person doing the grooming is an adult and they are in a position of power or authority over the young person (like a teacher or boss) then the law says that the young person must be 18 or older. It may not be illegal if the young person receiving the communication was 16 and the sender was under 17 or thought the other person was 17 or older.
In most cases, it is illegal to get someone under 17 (or 18, if the older person is in a position of power or authority) to do an indecent act or take photos or film of a young person engaged in an indecent act.
An invasive image is an image of a person of any age in a place other than a public place:
An invasive image can include an image that has been digitally created or altered, including through sexual material created entirely through artificial intelligence (AI) (known as a deepfake).
It is an offence to distribute or share an invasive image of someone knowing they do not consent to the distribution.
It is also a crime to threaten to share an invasive image intending to cause the person fear.
It is an offence to film another person undressed or engaged in a private act (like having a shower) where they would normally expect privacy, or to film a person’s private region when this would not be expected.
These offences apply to images and films of people of any age, unless the person shown consents. A person under the age of 17 cannot legally consent. Sharing invasive or indecent images or films of a person under 17 is a serious crime.
If you are concerned that an image of you or someone you know is being shared inappropriately, you should contact the police. Call 131 444 or visit your local police station.
The eSafety Commissioner can help remove images from websites and can issue penalties in some cases. Report online at esafety.gov.au/report.
May 2026
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