Possessing child exploitation material is a serious criminal offence under both Queensland and Commonwealth legislation.

Under the Queensland Criminal Code, it is a crime to possess, supply, produce, distribute, and encourage the use of child exploitation material, or administer a child exploitation website. If, in committing the offence, the person used a hidden network or anonymising service (such as Tor), the maximum penalty is 20 years' imprisonment. Otherwise, the maximum penalty is 14 years' imprisonment.

In determining penalty, the Court must impose a sentence of actual custody unless there are exceptional circumstances.

The legal definitions for these types of offences are very broad. In Queensland, "child exploitation material" is defined to include material (such as books, videos, images, photographs, video games, cartoons, illustrations, stories, emails, text messages or any other depiction) of a person or representation of a person under 16 years in a sexual, offensive or demeaning context, or being subjected to abuse, cruelty or torture. This means that the definition applies to depictions of fictional children. A "child abuse object" is a doll, robot or other object that portrays or conveys the impression of a child under 16 years.

The definition of supply or distribute extends beyond providing the material to another person to include attempts and offers to provide the material. It is irrelevant whether the material was distributed or supplied to a particular person or not.

There are defences to the charge. In relation to a charge of possessing child exploitation material, it is defence if the accused person can show, on the balance of probabilities, that they did not have knowledge or control of the material in question. It is a defence if the material was possessed for a legitimate artistic, scientific or other purpose. It some cases, it is also possible to defend the matter on the basis that the material in question is not child exploitation material according to all of the elements in the statutory definition.

Child exploitation material offences are on the increase, facilitated by advances in computer and mobile phone technology. Similarly, police have a wide range of forensic and technological processes to assist them in investigating these offences. In Queensland, it is legal for a police officer to pretend to pose as a child under 16 years for the purposes of communicating with adults in a sexualised manner. Police are able to conduct extensive forensic examinations of mobile phones and computers.