Victorian child abuse laws come into force

New laws have been introduced in Victoria to help protect children from abuse, holding religious, childcare, government and community organisations to account and modernising child pornography laws.

The Wrongs Amendment (Organisational Child Abuse) Act 2017 came into force on Saturday with new duty-of-care requirements for organisations that care for or have authority over children.

The onus of proof has been reversed, reducing the legal barriers for survivors to sue.

Also, the Crimes Amendment (Sexual Offences) Act 2016 came into force on Saturday, which reforms 50 sexual offences in a bid to stop abuse taking place online via platforms such as Skype or Snapchat.

The Act also replaces the term "child pornography" with "child abuse material" and has broadened its definition to include physical abuse.

"This major overhaul of our sexual offence laws will give police the tools they need to prosecute predators who exploit changing technology to commit child abuse," Attorney-General Martin Pakula said.

The changes come on the back of recommendations made by the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse.