NSW government employee charged over ‘violent’ child abuse posts

LACHLAN LEEMING - 18 February 2026

A senior NSW public servant who allegedly shared violent child abuse imagery online will remain behind bars, and his employers have confirmed that he has been suspended immediately without pay.

Cameron Spring, 43, was arrested by Australian Federal Police officers at Canterbury in southwestern Sydney last week following a long-term investigation stemming from a tip-off from a child protection agency based in the US.

Spring, an employee in the NSW Premier’s Department, faces 30 charges, including one count of larceny by persons in public service, 13 counts of using a carriage service to transmit child abuse material, four counts of using a carriage service to access child abuse material and one count of using a carriage service to groom a person under 16 years of age for sexual activity.

Last Friday he faced Burwood Local Court, where he was refused bail, with his next court mention set for April 8.

A NSW government spokesperson revealed Spring’s employment and that he was suspended without pay the day he was charged.

“He has been suspended without pay, effective the same day charges were laid,” the spokesperson said.

“The matter is before the courts. It would be inappropriate to comment further for this reason. The department also does not comment on individual staffing matters.”

In a statement, the AFP said it would be alleged Spring uploaded and shared “violent” child abuse material to an online cloud storage device multiple times across at least two years.

The AFP said its investigation began following a tip to the Australian Centre to Counter Child Exploitation from the US National Centre for Missing and Exploited Children regarding an online user uploading child abuse imagery to social media platforms.

Further investigations by Australian authorities allegedly linked Spring to the account posting the material.

Spring’s home was raided in March last year and several mobile phones and laptops were seized by police for forensic examination.

AFP Detective Superintendent Luke Needham said “children are not commodities” and the federal police will “not tolerate those who prey on them”.

“This investigation sends a clear and unequivocal message: law enforcement will relentlessly pursue anyone alleged to be involved in the harm of children to find them and put them before the courts,” he said.

“The AFP is steadfast in its mission to protect children, and we will use every resource available to ensure anyone who targets or exploits them faces justice.

“Children are not commodities. They are not objects.

“They deserve safety, dignity and protection – and the AFP will not tolerate those who prey on them.”

https://www.theaustralian.com.au/nation/nsw-government-employee-charged-over-violent-child-abuse-posts/news-story/1b7d0f7dcbe360992c35d50ea0e34d91

University of Queensland economics head viewed child exploitation images on campus, charges allege

SARAH ELKS - 17 February 2026

The University of Queensland’s head of the school of economics Daniel John Zizzo allegedly accessed “digital images” showing child exploitation material on the prestigious sandstone university’s St Lucia campus on Wednesday last week, details of his charges reveal.

Italian-American citizen Professor Zizzo, who has been the academic dean and economics head at the Brisbane university since 2018, was arrested and charged by the Queensland Police on that same day, before appearing in court on Thursday and being remanded in custody.

The 54-year-old Taringa man has been charged with “knowingly” possessing child exploitation material, and police allege the offending occurred at the ­university campus.

A police spokesman told The Australian on Friday that “investigations remain ongoing”, and UQ vice-chancellor Deborah Terry confirmed the university was co-operating with the police probe into the “very serious” charge.

“At present we are not aware of any member of our community being impacted. However, we do recognise that this will be deeply distressing, and we are ensuring support is available to those who need it,” Professor Terry said.

“The staff member is not currently in his role and is absent from campus.”

The Australian can reveal Professor Zizzo – an Australian permanent resident – has travelled through Asia representing UQ, delivering guest lectures and discussing the Brisbane institution’s business partnerships with overseas colleges.

In September, the academic went to China on an ­exchange with Shandong University’s school of economics, during which he was described as an “internationally renowned behavioural and experimental economist”.

At the time, the Chinese university said Professor Zizzo and Lin Ping, Shandong’s economics dean, had met and confirmed they would sign a new deal to “promote the co-operation” between the two universities’ economics schools.

Professor Zizzo had “face-to-face, in-depth exchanges with postgraduates who intend to study for a doctoral degree abroad” and “laid a solid foundation for in-depth co-operation between the two schools in talent training, teacher mutual visits, scientific research co-operation and other fields”.

A month earlier, Professor Zizzo was hosted by the University of Delhi’s Office of International Programs to deliver a seminar about behavioural economics and competition.

“He shared powerful insights on risk-taking, competition, and behaviour in economics, showing how culture and identity shape decision-making,” the University of Delhi’s college of commerce posted on social media.

Professor Zizzo was in New Delhi in September 2024, delivering a guest lecture to students at St Stephen’s College’s economics society, with the seminar advertised as explaining “Is it Good or Bad to be Competitive? Lessons for Leaders, Managers and Everyone Else” by “a leading expert in economics”.

In August 2024, the Sri Lanka Institute of Information Technology said it had the “distinct honour” of hosting Professor Zizzo for his lecture about competition and “high-level discussions with SLIIT’s senior management, focusing on the strategic enhancement of the existing SLIIT-UQ business partnership”.

The economist was educated at the University of Oxford in ­England and the University of Palermo in Italy.

Professor Zizzo’s child exploitation material charge returns to the Brisbane Magistrates Court on March 2.

https://www.theaustralian.com.au/nation/uq-economics-head-viewed-child-exploitation-images-on-campus-charges-allege/news-story/e63705f89a9e943429314eabfe4e2ff9

Queensland man accused of offering $730 to adopt and abuse overseas children

abc.net.au - 18 February 2026

A Queensland man accused of offering to pay more than $700 to adopt children overseas so he could have sex with them has been refused bail.

The 49-year-old's luggage was searched after he arrived at Sydney Airport on Tuesday, when it is alleged child abuse material was found on the man's electronic devices.

Australian Federal Police (AFP) will allege the man asked third parties in the Philippines to find children for him to adopt and engage in sexual acts in exchange for 30,000 Philippine pesos, or about $730 AUD.

The man has been charged with a number of offences, including possessing or obtaining child abuse material outside Australia, using a carriage service to plan to engage in sexual activity with a person under the age of 16, and procuring a child to engage in sexual activity outside Australia.

The latter charge carries a maximum penalty of 20 years' jail.

He was refused bail and is due to appear in Downing Centre Local Court in Sydney in April.

Investigations ongoing

AFP Superintendent Luke Needham said investigations into the man's alleged behaviour were ongoing.

"The AFP will continue to forensically examine the man's devices, associated cloud accounts, and financial transactions to determine the full scale of the alleged offending," he said in a statement.

"We will also liaise with international partners and members deployed in the Philippines to identify any potential victims."

Australian Border Force (ABF) Superintendent Elke West said the ABF played a vital role in intercepting child abuse material.

"When an inbound passenger is stopped and searched, our focus is always on safeguarding the Australian public - especially the young and most vulnerable," he said in a statement.

Anyone with information about people involved in child abuse can contact the Australian Centre to Counter Child Exploitation (ACCCE).

https://www.accce.gov.au/

https://www.accce.gov.au/report

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2026-02-18/qld-man-refused-bail-over-alleged-child-sex-procurement-plot/106360740

https://www.afp.gov.au/news-centre/media-release/queensland-man-charged-allegedly-procuring-overseas-children-sex

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Victoria passes landmark laws to close loophole blocking child abuse victims from suing

Thousands of child abuse victims have regained their right to sue institutions after landmark laws overturned a High Court decision that left their claims “dead in the water”.

Shannon Deery - February 18, 2026

A legal loophole that was blocking victims of child sex abuse from suing their perpetrators has been closed with the passage of landmark vicarious liability laws.

The new laws, which passed parliament on Tuesday, clear the way for victims of child sexual abuse to again sue perpetrators of institutional abuse who had been blocked from doing so following a controversial High Court ruling.

The ruling, handed down in the case Bird v DP in November 2024, limited the rights of victims to sue perpetrators of institutional abuse, such as priests, Scout masters, volunteers, sporting coaches and other non-employees.

It held that institutions could not be deemed liable for sexual abuse if a perpetrator was not in a formal employment relationship with the institution.

The new legislation, which passed unopposed, expands vicarious liability for child abuse beyond employment relationships to include relationships that are ‘akin to employment’.

This could include a volunteer, a member of a religious organisation or an employed schoolteacher.

Lawyer Judy Courtin — a long-time campaigner for the rights of victims of institutional abuse — said any authority, power or control over abused children would be central to court determinations of future claims.

“There has been, and continues to be untold suffering caused to thousands of victim/survivors whose claims or the opportunity to make a civil claim for hideous child sex crimes, were suddenly dead in the water (following the High Court decision),” Ms Courtin said.

“The ACT and Victoria are the only two states thus far with such progressive legislative reforms.

“The remaining states and territories must follow the lead of the ACT and Victoria.

“If not, those jurisdictions are callously accepting that they have two classes of victim/survivors — those who have access to justice and those who do not.”

Maurice Blackburn principal lawyer, John Rule, said the laws were a “long-awaited breakthrough for survivors”.

“This reform closes a legal loophole that meant institutions could avoid responsibility for abuse that occurred under their watch if the perpetrator was not a formal employee,” he said.

“Institutions like churches can now be held responsible not only for the actions of formal employees, but also for those in roles ‘akin to employment’.

“Importantly, the laws are retrospective to ensure that no survivor in Victoria will be left worse off because of the Bird v DP High Court decision.

“We commend the Victorian Government for taking action to uphold the legal rights of survivors of child abuse.

“These reforms are a common-sense and compassionate response to narrow legal interpretations that have limited the ability of survivors to seek redress for the harm they have experienced.”

https://www.heraldsun.com.au/news/victoria/victoria-passes-landmark-laws-to-close-loophole-blocking-child-abuse-victims-from-suing/news-story/8aae90274fe98ba62117ac032756c860

Premier polishes pitch to lure Trump to Australia

Andrew Stafford - 18 February 2026

A state premier has ramped up a push to host a diplomatic summit that - if successful - would see Donald Trump become the first sitting US president to visit Australian soil in more than a decade.

In an address to the National Press Club in Canberra on Wednesday, Queensland Premier David Crisafulli laid out his vision for the state to hold the Quadrilateral Security Dialogue, or Quad.

The strategic partnership between Australia, India, Japan and the United States was formed in 2007 as a counterweight to Chinese influence in the Indo-Pacific region.

Mr Crisafulli also views it as a commercial opportunity that would put Queensland on the world stage ahead of the Brisbane Olympic Games in 2032.

The last sitting US president to visit Australia was Barack Obama in 2014.

Asked how President Trump might be persuaded to come to Australia for the summit, Mr Crisafulli said "the US needs that relationship and Queensland needs the US", adding his state was "in the box seat".

He said Queensland had critical minerals the US needed for military hardware and other advanced technologies.

"When you're talking about minerals that might be used for night vision goggles or hard-facing for military equipment, it's big business, but also in terms of security, it's very important," Mr Crisafulli said.

The US was over-reliant on sourcing its minerals from other nations and states that were less politically stable than Australia, he said.

"In some cases, the US is getting up to 90 per cent of these individual minerals from one jurisdiction," Mr Crisafulli said.

"You wouldn't do that in any industry, let alone when you're talking about geopolitical instability and relationships that can fracture.

"I see this as the next wave for Queensland's economy … I have a view that Queensland is better placed than anywhere else."

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese was strongly supportive of Queensland hosting a future summit and funding had already been apportioned, Mr Crisafulli said.

There have been six Quad summits since 2021 - two in the US, two in Japan and two via video conference.

The last meeting, in September 2024, was held in the US state of Delaware and hosted by then-president Joe Biden.

India is due to host the next summit, with the date yet to be announced.

Australia was in line to host the following event, Mr Crisafulli said, noting Brisbane had previously hosted the G20 in 2014, attended by world leaders including then-president Obama.

Australia withdrew from the Quad in 2008 under Kevin Rudd's Labor government.

The strategic partnership was resumed in 2017 when Australia re-entered under the coalition, then led by Malcolm Turnbull.

The Chinese government has previously issued official diplomatic protests to member nations to oppose the partnership.

https://au.news.yahoo.com/premier-polishes-pitch-lure-trump-055414060.html