Anne Stanley (Werriwa, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is for the Minister for Communications. How is the Albanese Labor government working to support families to keep children safer on social media?

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

I thank the member for her question because the safety and mental health of our young people is paramount. The Albanese government is committed to ensuring that we make the environments where children live, learn and interact safer, and that includes digital environments. We're taking a whole-of-government approach to minimising the harms that come from children accessing content online that's not appropriate for them.

The Prime Minister has committed to introducing legislation this year to enforce a minimum age for access to social media. Implementing this legislation will be informed by the age assurance trial funded in this year's budget. The legislation is also being informed by engagement with National Cabinet, the eSafety Commissioner and recent work by former chief justice Robert French. I acknowledge the premiers of New South Wales and South Australia, who have kicked off the Social Media Summit today in Sydney; I will join them in Adelaide tomorrow. This legislation is one part of a comprehensive approach this government is taking to address online safety.

The Attorney-General delivered legislation making it a criminal offence to share non-consensual deepfake sexually explicit material, and he is progressing important work to strengthen online privacy for children. The social services minister and I have delivered an Australia-first dating app industry code to ensure the industry improves the safety of Australians using dating apps, especially women. With the support of the Treasurer and the finance minister, the Albanese government quadrupled ongoing base funding for the eSafety Commissioner to ensure that they are equipped to respond to online harms.

As minister, I have amended the basic online safety expectations so that platforms must place the best interests of the child at the centre of their products and services. I've also brought forward by a year the independent review of the Online Safety Act to ensure it's fit for purpose, and I expect to receive that report in coming weeks.

Collaboration and co-operation within and across governments is the best approach to making digital environments safer. As we navigate solutions for parents, we're applying the principles to our social media age limit legislation. We're also engaging with experts and advocates around the unintended consequences that young people may experience through this reform. Let me reassure the House: our approach is not about punishing young people or letting big tech off the hook. We all have a role to play. Social media services must act to address the impacts of the content on their platforms and how it affects young people. Platforms have shown they're capable of doing more, and we welcome their efforts to make services safer. The Albanese government is determined to do our share to make digital environments safer for all Australians.