Revenge Porn is spreading in Australia like bushfire, making it the new Australian phenomenon to have had hit the social media these days.

According to a report from AAP, revenge porn involves a jilted lover, men in majority, to upload sexual images of their former lovers online to embarrass, harass or blackmail their victims. Other culprits stole pictures of their former lovers from social media profiles and maliciously post the stolen pictures to pornographic sites. With the vast internet community, victims remain unaware that their pictures were already being posted maliciously. Victims, who had been aware that they were victims of such act, unfortunately face the impossibility of having their pictures taken down online.

As in the case of Annmarie Chiarni, who had a former long-distance boyfriend talked her into posing nude with the promise that those pictures will be for his eyes exclusively. The ex-boyfriend told her he will store them on a compact disc and hidden away in his drawer.

When they broke up, Ms Chiarni saw the CD being auctioned through eBay with a link to her friends, family and even employers. Her pictures ended up on a pornographic video-sharing site and had already obtained 4,000 views in less than two weeks.

Unfortunately, for the Australians who were victimised in the same way, the Australian Federal Police said that as much as revenge porn is devastating for women, police do not investigate it. The department can only advise the victims to contact the Web sites which uploaded their pictures and see if they can have their photos taken down. This is because, Australia, has no laws that can sanction such malicious act done through the Internet.

However, the Attorney's General's Department (AGD) maintains that police have the power to prosecute revenge pornographers.

According to spokesman for AGD, the Commonwealth Criminal Code 1995 states that it is an offense to use the internet to menace, harass or offend. This can be applied to indict revenge pornographers.

"This offence carries a maximum penalty of three years' imprisonment. This offence has been used in the past to prosecute threatening online comments, including in serious cases of cyber-bullying and, depending on the circumstances, may also apply in cases described as 'revenge porn," the spokesman told AAP.

"While the Criminal Code Act 1995 covers the use of internet and social media to behave in a menacing or harassing way, if there is evidence that existing laws do not adequately protect individuals we are prepared to consider the appropriateness of increasing safeguards," a spokesman for shadow attorney general Mark Dreyfus said.

Jono Nicholas, CEO of youth advocacy group Inspire Foundation, said that most victims of revenge porn are the youths.

The young ones who engage in sexting are particularly vulnerable to revenge pornographers.

The Australian Communications and Media Authority (AMCA) revealed that 18 per cent of 16 and 17 year-olds admit they have received a sext; 13 per cent admit they have sent a sext themselves.

"It's a real issue for young people - where things ... happen within the context of a trusting relationship and then it breaks down. For me, revenge porn ... it's a rarity, in the same way that the ADF Skype sex scandal was not representative of what's going on in the ADF. But it's no less harmful for that," Mr Nicholas told AAP.

Mr Nicholas noted that the popularity of smartphones and popularity of the social media made revenge porn prevalent in the country.

Australia has one of the highest ownership rates in the world and 12 million Australians use Facebook each month according to AAP.

"If you go back 10 or 15 years and the scenario of a celebrity sex tape, literally someone would've had to put that on a VHS and cart it around to various pornographers or put it out there. When you put that together with easy recording devices, easy publication devices, this area is a genuine concern for young people in terms of having something on the permanent record. It's a situation no other generation has ever faced."

Dr Lauren Rosewarne from the University of Melbourne, an expert on sexuality, gender, feminism, public policy and politics, said that revenge porn resulted from sex-based cyber bullying which attack women's sexual performance.

"I think, like all awful things that happen online, while they are awful and traumatic for those involved, they are also very isolated cases and certainly no justification to do a bug sweep/hidden camera inspection of every bedroom you enter. That said, it does remind us of the importance of trust: that just as we should be mindful about trust related to STIs, contraception etc, that trust needs to be considered carefully if a brand new partner suggests bringing out the camera," Ms Rosewarne explained.