Australia's 1st child sex offender register goes live

SYDNEY (AFP) - Australia's first publicly accessible child sex offender register went live on Monday, supplying photographs and names of paedophiles, amid concern it will lead to vigilantism and mistaken identity.

The Community Protection website, a Western Australia (WA) government initiative, provides information on the state's most dangerous repeat sex offenders.

"This has been a bit of a balancing act between community safety and managing the ability of the police to manage dangerous sex offenders and reportable offenders in the community," said WA Police Minister Liza Harvey.

"It is a tool that we've got, I think (it) will be useful for parents to try and help to keep their children safe."