This post talks about The Broadcasting Services Amendment (Online Services) Act 1990. It talks about the ineffectiveness of filtering software and the cost to Ausralia. Google Blog
The Australian Internet Industry has a list of 16 approved filters. However, testing by Computer Choice found that innocuous content, such as medical sites, were often blocked while some adult content passed through the filter.
The filtering software products are ineffective, and Australia cannot control websites hosted outside its borders.
Article on Australian Governement censoring websites. Spending $9.8 million. Possibly futile. Not many Australians enjoy a truly free online experience (only 21%).
ARIN2610
googleblog
"Australia's off-line censorship laws are among the most restrictive in Western democracies and the Net censorship laws are more akin to those in totalitarian regimes than to those, if any, in other countries purporting to be Western democracies."