Relief from the Department of Internal Affairs, after a Christchurch man was jailed for possessing thousands of images of children being sexually abused.

Rhys Firth has been jailed for four years and two months, after pleading guilty to possessing 24,000 pictures, and 1800 videos.

Many of the victims were aged 10 or younger, including babies and toddlers.

Department of Internal Affairs Censorship Compliance Manager Steve O'Brien said the level of offending was unbearable.

"The material is horrific, they were very young as you said babies and toddlers being abused. You don't want to contemplate it."

O'Brien says New Zealand has a reputation of being very proactive in the digital age, and people will be caught.

"Internationally we work with all the main agencies you can think of, and it is a global enforcement community that undertakes this work."

O'Brien said most individuals think because they're operating anonymously and that they can't be tracked down, but law enforcement agencies are becoming smarter as well.

"It's a global fight, we're getting very good intelligence from overseas, and our own intelligence that we go after ourselves. It is only a matter of time before these individuals appear before the courts."