Peter Dutton (Dickson, Liberal Party, Leader of the Opposition) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is to the Prime Minister. The coalition announced in June our plan to stop young children from gaining access to harmful social media content. The Prime Minister's been incapable of taking action on this important issue for months. Yesterday, Premier Malinauskas said he'd had enough of waiting for the Prime Minister to make a decision. Now, today, in a rushed and ham fisted way, the government's made a partial announcement of a policy without detail—

Hon. Members:

Honourable members interjecting—

Milton Dick (Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Order! There is far too much noise. I cannot hear the question. The Leader of the Opposition will be given the courtesy of beginning his question again.

Peter Dutton (Dickson, Liberal Party, Leader of the Opposition) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is to the Prime Minister. The coalition announced in June our plan to stop young children from gaining access to harmful social media content. The Prime Minister has been incapable of taking action on this important issue for months. Yesterday, Premier Malinauskas said he'd had enough of waiting for the Prime Minister to make a decision. Now, today, in a rushed and ham fisted way, the government has made a partial announcement of a policy without detail. Why is the Albanese government hopeless at everything?

Government members interjecting—

Milton Dick (Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Order. Members on my right—the Minister for Climate Change and Energy, the member for Hunter, the Treasurer.

Anthony Albanese (Grayndler, Australian Labor Party, Prime Minister) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

In the question the Leader of the Opposition just asked, he lied about Peter Malinauskas. He did not say that.

Hon. Members:

Honourable members interjecting—

Milton Dick (Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Order! I'm going to get the Prime Minister to withdraw that part of his answer.

Anthony Albanese (Grayndler, Australian Labor Party, Prime Minister) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The alleged quote from Peter Malinauskas—

Opposition members: Withdraw!

Milton Dick (Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Order! I'm going to get the Prime Minister to withdraw.

Anthony Albanese (Grayndler, Australian Labor Party, Prime Minister) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I withdraw. The alleged quote—brought through in the question—from the Premier of South Australia, Peter Malinauskas, was just not true. I've been working with the premiers and chief ministers—

Milton Dick (Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Order! The Leader of the Opposition has asked his question.

Peter Dutton (Dickson, Liberal Party, Leader of the Opposition) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

How close are you working with him?

Milton Dick (Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The Leader of the Opposition has asked his question.

Honourable members interjecting—

Order! There is far too much noise. We're not starting the day with that level of interjections, from the Leader of the Opposition down. We are going to handle this matter with respect. The Prime Minister will be heard in silence for the remainder of the answer.

Anthony Albanese (Grayndler, Australian Labor Party, Prime Minister) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

On the Leader of the Opposition's angry rant, rather than a question, about a new minimum age for access to social media, my government has announced that we will introduce legislation by the end of the year.

Milton Dick (Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Order! Member for Groom, member for Lindsay.

Anthony Albanese (Grayndler, Australian Labor Party, Prime Minister) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

We have, in our May budget, funded the trial of age verification technology to make sure that we actually get this right. You need to trial the technology. This is something that has been a scourge of young people, in particular, throughout the Western world. It is something that governments are grappling with throughout the Western world. We know that too often social media isn't social at all. This is about giving children a childhood and giving parents peace of mind. I want young Australians to grow up playing outside with their friends—off their phones and onto the footy fields and the netball courts. That's what I want, and that's what parents want as well. I find it extraordinary that those opposite come in here on an issue like this and seek to yell and rant angrily, but that characterises everything they're about.

When it comes to detail from an opposition that wants nuclear reactors around Australia, with no costings and no plan for how they would occur, just saying that they will be—

Honourable members interjecting—

Milton Dick (Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Order. The Leader of the Nationals. Everyone, cool it. The Prime Minister, in continuation.

Anthony Albanese (Grayndler, Australian Labor Party, Prime Minister) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Setting a new national minimum age for social media will support parents and teachers. We all know that technology moves fast, and some will try to find their ways around these laws, which is why we need to get it right. None of that is an excuse for inaction. That's why my government will introduce legislation into this parliament this year. (Time expired)

Mike Freelander (Macarthur, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is to the Minister for Communications. Parents in my community are telling me they are worried about the harms children are experiencing online. How will the Albanese Labor government's proposed minimum age for social media help protect young people and support parents?

Michelle Rowland (Greenway, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Communications) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I particularly acknowledge the member for Macarthur as someone who has been involved in children's health his whole life. The safety and mental health of our children is paramount. We know that interacting online can be a great way for children to connect, to learn about their world and to develop skills for the future. But we also know from the research that social media and unfettered content that exists across many of these platforms can cause harm. They can affect mental health and healthy body image. There can be unsolicited contact from strangers—some of the most extreme and concerning for all of us.

Parents are looking for real solutions to what is a legitimate national concern about harmful online environments and addictive behaviour on social media for children. So the Commonwealth is providing national leadership to ensure children are better protected from online harms and parents are supported. Our government will introduce legislation this year to enforce a minimum age for access to social media and other relevant digital platforms. As the Prime Minister said, we know that technology moves fast, but we have to do all that we can to protect children in this area. Legislation on this issue will be informed by engagement with National Cabinet and the eSafety Commissioner and will draw on recent work by former chief justice Robert French. This builds on the Albanese government's age assurance trial, testing technologies and implementation approaches that will inform our policy design. It's an important step towards ensuring that all Australian children can use the internet in an age-appropriate way that supports them, their learning and their positive development.

In my home state of New South Wales, mobile phones have been banned in schools, and the feedback from teachers has been very positive. Children are playing more, and you can hear more noise and chatter in the playground because they're not spending that time absorbed on their phones. The government has been prepared to do our share, and we have, in our first term, done more to act on the social and economic harms to democracy than any other government in the last 10 years. We've taken decisive action on a number of fronts to minimise online harms and concerns around social media, including bringing forward the review of the Online Safety Act by 12 months and amending the basic online safety expectations so that platforms must place the best interests of the child at the centre of their products and services. We funded joint digital literacy programs in every school, in partnership with the Alannah & Madeline Foundation, and we quadrupled ongoing base funding for the eSafety Commissioner to do their important work.

Fundamentally, as we develop the legislative approach, we will focus on ensuring government is not telling parents how to raise children. But we expect platforms and online services to do their fair share, because this burden or responsibility doesn't just rest with parents.

David Coleman (Banks, Liberal Party, Shadow Minister for Communications) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is to the Prime Minister. The Prime Minister announced in May that the government would fund a trial of age verification for children accessing social media. Can the Prime Minister confirm that the trial has not started and that the tender document for the technical trial was issued today?

Opposition Members:

Opposition members interjecting—

Milton Dick (Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Order, members on my left! The Deputy Leader of the Opposition and the member for Fisher—no interjections before an answer even begins.

Anthony Albanese (Grayndler, Australian Labor Party, Prime Minister) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

There are three stages in the preparation of this. The first two stages are done, and this is stage 3: issuing the contract to make sure that's right—

Milton Dick (Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Order, the Attorney-General! Members on my right, it works two ways. There's far too much interjecting. Yelling is not going to help me hear the answer. Everyone take a lesson: if it continues on, there will be a general warning and people aren't going to remain here for question time today. The Prime Minister has the call.

Anthony Albanese (Grayndler, Australian Labor Party, Prime Minister) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The government funded this trial in our May budget. The minister and the department have been working through the first two stages and the third stage to make sure—you need to know what you're putting a tender out for—the technology is got right. We've also been cooperating of course with the eSafety Commissioner, a body for which we quadrupled funding.

Social media has a social responsibility to have its social licence. We want to make sure, arising out of this age verification, that we're able to move forward in a way which no country in the world has been able to solve this problem. We are seeking to be the best in the world. That is why you have to actually get it right, not fund a car park where there's no train station—make sure you actually get it right.

I'm surprised that those opposite seek to make this a partisan issue because I think this is an issue which is of concern for all parents. Social media is causing social—

Milton Dick (Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The Deputy Leader of the Opposition, listen carefully. There will be no more interjections from you for the remainder of this answer, because I want to hear the answer.

Anthony Albanese (Grayndler, Australian Labor Party, Prime Minister) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Social media is causing social harm. It can be used as a weapon for bullies, a vehicle for scammers or, worst of all, a tool for online predators. That is why we are ensuring that we will get the legislation right. I've said, as part of the announcement, that we will consult across the parliament. I don't think this should be an issue in which we are yelling at each other. I think this is an issue in which we should be yelling at social media companies to do the right thing. That is what I seek, and I hope that the parliament has the maturity to do that.

Peter Dutton (Dickson, Liberal Party, Leader of the Opposition) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

From May to September!

Milton Dick (Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Order! This is a serious issue and we need to do better, so I am asking everyone in the House to show some restraint, ask questions respectfully and listen to the question respectfully as well.

Anthony Albanese (Grayndler, Australian Labor Party, Prime Minister) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The government may not be able to stop every threat on social media but we do have a responsibility to do everything we can, to help as many young Australians as we can. We cannot let the perfect be the enemy of the good. This is a change that will change our country for the better. It follows our quadrupling of funding for the eSafety Commisioner and the other work we have done in this area. That is why we need a national response. (Time expired)

Jodie Belyea (Dunkley, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is to the Minister for Youth. What is the Albanese Labor government doing to keep children and young people safe online, including through its proposed minimum age for social media?

Milton Dick (Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The member Lindsay will leave the chamber under 94(a). Continually interjecting like that before the minister has begun is highly disorderly. The Minister for Early Childhood Education and Minister for Youth has the call.

Anne Aly (Cowan, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Early Childhood Education) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I thank the member for Dunkley for her question. The safety and security of Australians is a priority for this government, as it should be, and that includes the safety and security of young people and children online. We know that social media can be used for good; there is no question about that. As the Minister for Youth, I have heard from young people through our youth consultations and through our youth engagement program. In our survey of 4,600 young people, mental health featured second as their greatest concern. Young people tell me that, while they value social media for the connectivity it affords them, they are also highly attuned to the negative impacts it has on their mental health, on their social and physical wellbeing.

Social media is associated with poor mental health, with eating disorders, with depression, with anxiety, with self-harm, with cyberbullying, with poor sleep quality among a plethora of other things. That social media is harmful to children and young people is not contentious; I think we can all agree on that. Young people know it, parents know it, teachers know it, youth workers know it, researchers know it and we know it. That is why we are doing something about it. This is a topic that is discussed at barbecues, it is discussed in the schoolyard and it is discussed among young people themselves.

The Albanese Labor government is going to introduce a minimum age for access to social media and gaming platforms, and we know we need to get this right. We need to bring children, we need to bring young people and parents along with us on this journey. But there is work already underway. In May, we announced funding for an age-assurance trial exploring age verification technologies to protect children from being exposed to harmful online content. I have been working with the Minister for Communications, Minister Rowland, to that ensure that young people are engaged in the development of that trial. We are also making sure that young people and families have the tools to use social media safely through initiatives like the digital literacy programs in schools through a partnership with the Alannah and Madeline Foundation. We have quadrupled funding to the eSafety Commisioner, making sure that commission has what it needs to keep Australians safe online.

Children deserve a childhood. They deserve a childhood free from the harms that unfortunately social media brings with it. They deserve a childhood where they can play freely, where they can grow up with a strong identity and a strong sense of belonging, a childhood free from bullying, free from anxiety and free from depression. We want to ensure that children in Australia get that childhood.