25.9 Offensive materials Blasphemy and sedition. Prosecutions for obscenity, blasphemy and sedition have become increasingly rare in Australia. Classification systems, advising the public of the nature of material and leaving it to decide whether to read or watch it, are replacing the old com mon law offences of obscenity. There has been no prosecution for blasphemy in Australia, although it is still a statutory offence in two states (NSW and Tasma nia) and the Australian Capital Territory, while other states have repealed their blasphemy legislation. The sedition laws were last used in 1960 to successfully prosecute a Department of Native Affairs officer for urging "natives' of Papua New Guinea to demand independence from Australia. Section 24D of the Crimes Act 1914 (Cth) has been repealed, but new sedition laws in the Criminal Code Act.1995 (Cth) (s 80.2) have controversially shifted the law to what people say, rather than the outcome of their actions.