Children have been asked whether homosexuality is "the sickest sin" in a school assignment.

The homework given to 14 and 15-year-olds at Armadale Christian College, also also points them to bible quotes describing homosexuality as an "abomination", and describes "coming out of the closet" as "open sinning".

Inquiries by The Sunday Times have prompted Education Minister Liz Constable to order Department of Education Services staff to go to the school to ensure it was "satisfying registration requirements".

"(This is) to assess the lesson content being used by the school in relation to their Religion and Life syllabus,'' Dr Constable said on Friday.

Meanwhile, Stephen Lee, chief executive officer of Swan Christian Education Association, which encompasses the Armadale school, said his association would "review the use of this material" and teaching materials used at other SCEA schools, following questions from The Sunday Times.

One question in the assignment given to the Year 10 students in June was: "Is homosexuality the sickest sin there is?"

Another question asked what God said about homosexuality and pointed to Bible quotes for the answer, which called it an "abomination".

The assignment also stated that homosexuality was a "compromise for the need to be loved and accepted", resulting for many from "low self-esteem (and) gender emptiness".

The Victorian government will launch an inquiry into sexting to investigate whether the law needs an overhaul to respond to a surge in teens sending explicit images.

Victorian Attorney-General Robert Clark said sexting raised serious issues for victims and offenders and the law needed to catch up with changes in behaviour and technology.

The inquiry follows Fairfax Media reports on the proliferation of adolescent sexting. While swapping risque photographs is often harmless, it can also humiliate. As well, there are cases of Victorian youths being listed on the sex offenders register for up to eight years after being caught up in sexting offences.

''Sexting is something that can have very serious consequences for the young people involved, and now it's become clear that this is a major issue we want to act now and avert harm as early as possible,'' Mr Clark said.

''We want the inquiry to examine all aspects of the phenomenon of sexting: its prevalence, its nature, its implications and its consequences.''

He will table terms of reference and seek to refer them to the bipartisan Law Reform Committee when the state's Parliament returns later this month.

More than 50 church leaders have directly appealed to all 226 federal MPs not to change the Marriage Act, kicking off a campaign to defeat moves by Labor and the Greens to allow same-sex marriage.

In defence of marriage being only between a man and a woman, the leaders cite the "high incidence of fatherless youth" in the London riots as an example of the social dangers if governments do not create "a natural and stable environment" for children.

"You will see that despite the incredible claims of a lack of support for the current definition of marriage in the churches . . . we know the support for the current definition of marriage is strongly held by the vast majority of other faiths," the church leaders say. They refer to the importance of marriage as a legal institution to promote and protect "the identity of children and their internationally recognised right to know, have access to and be nurtured by both their mother and father".

The campaign is partly a response to surveys released by same-sex marriage advocates that suggest 53 per cent of Christians support same-sex marriage, as the Greens campaign to change the Marriage Act and the ALP national conference prepares to debate the issue in November.

The leaders include the Anglican Archbishop of Sydney Peter Jensen, the Catholic Archbishop of Sydney George Pell, Lutheran Church president Mike Semmler, Orthodox Archbishop of Australia Paul Sliba, Salvation Army commissioner Raymond Finger and Presbyterian moderator-general David Jones.

Prostitutes hope to cash in on overseas and interstate visitors to Perth during October's Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting.

Perth madam Mary-Anne Kenworthy said sex workers would be out in force while the Queen, more than 50 heads of state and their entourages were in town.

She said she would double her workforce and expected to double her profits.

"The eyes are lighting up. The dimples are out again," Ms Kenworthy said with a laugh. "Mmm, it does sound quite delicious.

"I have the potential to increase my turnover 80 to 100 per cent during CHOGM."The event runs from October 28-30 and will attract at least 1000 media representatives from around the world.

Premier Colin Barnett, keen to portray Perth as a beautiful, clean city, has already banished the homeless and rubbish from the city.

But Ms Kenworthy said the city's roaring sex trade would not be hidden from the CHOGM dignitaries because it was very likely that WA would be in the grip of a fierce debate about legalising prostitution.

The federal Attorney-General's Department will meet industry stakeholders next month to discuss potential new copyright laws to combat online piracy.

The Australian has obtained a copy of a letter written by Attorney-General's Department secretary Roger Wilkins inviting internet industry executives to meet copyright protection advocacy groups next month to negotiate laws to combat online piracy.

Attorney-General Robert McClelland confirmed that the department had arranged the high-level meeting next month.

Michael Salmon, spokesman for copyright advocate the Australian Content Industry Group, which has been invited to attend the meeting, said content holders would be pushing hard for a graduated response scheme to penalise consumers who repeatedly engaged in online piracy.

Mr Salmon said the meeting would provide a forum to mould the broad agreements already struck among stakeholders into a solid proposal to be delivered to the federal government.

World renowned American cartoonist Robert Crumb has pulled out of his headline appearance at the Graphic arts festival in Sydney later this month.

He made the decision after being described in a Sydney newspaper as a "self-confessed sex pervert" and a "very warped human being".

Crumb, 67, who was among the founders of the underground comix movement in the 1960s and whose characters include Mr Natural and Fritz the Cat, was to be the main attraction at the second annual Graphic festival to be held at Sydney Opera House on August 20 and 21.

The artist, who is based in France, told The Australian yesterday (08/08/2011) he had withdrawn from making his first appearance in Australia because of the nasty nature of an article in The Sunday Telegraph, owned by News Limited, publisher of The Australian.

The newspaper's story on July 31 featured the headline "Cult genius or filthy weirdo". In it, anti-child abuse campaigner Hetty Johnston described Crumb's work as "crude and perverted images emanating from what is clearly a sick mind".

"It was strong stuff and it made me look very, very bad," Crumb said. "All it takes is a few people who overreact to something like that to show up and cause unpleasantness. I have a lot of anxiety about having to confront some angry sexual assault crisis group."