Priests in Australia will not be protected anymore by the seal of confession and will be charged and jailed in case they fail to report child abuse to the police of people that confess their horrible crimes to the authorities.

On Tuesday this week, the state parliament passed new laws that places hefty penalties, which includes long prison time, for people that are found guilty of child sexual abuse crimes.

Queensland Attorney-General and Justice Minister Yvette D’Ath, said:

These tough laws herald a new era of delivering justice to victims, while sending a clear message that child sexual abuse is never OK. They create a new offence of failing to report and failing to protect a child from institutional child sexual abuse. The new laws also clarify that priests will not be able to rely on the seal of confession to avoid the reporting of abuse.

The bill that came into law came after a recommendation from the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse.

MP Steve Andrew, a member of the One Nation party, said that the new law is something that would lead professions such as lawyers, doctors and journalists to reveal confidential information.

The law would also make it an offence to supply or create a child sex doll. Anyone that gets caught and pleads guilty in doing such thing could get up to 20 years in jail.