Revelations in a new book on controversial photographer Bill Henson have lead to concern in the federal government at the artists's use of schools for selecting his subjects.

The federal government has now announced it will support an investigation into a school visit by Bill Henson, says Youth Minister Kate Ellis.
The 'scouting' took place in Victoria during a school lunchtime.

"I think it is quite appalling," Ms Ellis told Sky News.
The Victorian education department is now looking to see if any child protection protocols were broken during the visit.

Henson's photos of nude children, dimly lit, received complaints when they appeared at Sydney's Roslyn Oxley9 Gallery earlier this year.

An investigation at that time by the Director of Public Prosecutions told police there was no reasonable prospect of a conviction and the seized photos were returned.

A debate surrounding censorship, child abuse and pornography ensued with many people voicing concern at the inability of a child to consent to appearing naked in photos.

"Let's let kids be kids. When was it decided that we wanted to step on in and snatch away that innocence before it happens naturally," Ms Ellis said.

Victorian Premier John Brumby has asked the state education department to investigate how Henson was allowed to select child models when visiting the Melbourne primary school.
"We'll be supporting those investigations and looking out for ways to maintain that innocence amongst our kids," Ms Ellis said.
The book containing the revelations is titled The Henson Case and is written by Farifax journalist David Marr. The book says Henson toured the school with the permission of the principal and selected one boy and one girl. The parents of the students were then contacted however only the boy's parents agreed for him to be photographed.

In May, the prime minister offered his personal views of the photographs, branding them as "absolutely revolting."

With AAP.

Related links
Rudd 'can't stand' magazine's nude child photo - Yahoo!7 NEWS
Nude child photo published in taxpayer-funded magazine - Sunrise
Are nude photos of a six year old art or another outrage? - Sunrise

Photo credit flickr - by publik16