Rebekha Sharkie (Mayo, Centre Alliance) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is to the Minister for Communications. Many Australians, particularly parents, support minimum age requirements to prevent under-16s accessing social media, but will the social media platforms be able to demand and collect personal data such as passports or drivers licences from all existing or new account holders for age verification purposes? If not, how will age verification be obtained?

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

I thank the member for her question and her interest in this issue. I know that this is a matter that is occupying the thoughts of so many Australian parents and members of the community now. It's one that is contentious. It's one that has not actually been implemented at scale anywhere in the world. The member asked a very important question about privacy, and I will respond in a few parts.

The first is that the legislation that we will bring to this parliament will contain robust provisions as they pertain to privacy. We understand that Australians will be very concerned when they consider the level and the severity of cyber breaches that have happened in the recent past and the need to ensure that, consistent with the principles of the Privacy Act, there is only the collection and use of information for specific purposes. We want to ensure, through this legislation, that that principle continues to be maintained.

My clear answer for the member is that this is precisely why we are undertaking the age assurance trial, which we funded in the budget. Part of this goes to not only their effectiveness—and effectiveness goes to the willingness of platforms to utilise forms of age assurance—but also their acceptance by the public as well. We will use this time during the age assurance trial—and I would point out that the legislation will contain a one-year implementation timeframe—to ensure that these matters which are of concern are ones that are properly examined and properly accounted for.

But I do want to make it clear to the member that there is a difference between age verification and age assurance. What we are seeking to do here, through the trial, is to understand these technologies which have been developing rapidly, and the obligation that will be placed on the social media platforms is to take those reasonable steps, reasonable efforts, to ensure that people under the minimum age of 16 do not open and hold accounts.

This will be a process that we will go through, through implementation, working with e-Safety. I'm also working very closely with the Attorney-General and his department, as well as the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner, to get this right. But I do want to make this message very clear to the Australian people: this is not about government mandating any form of technology or demanding that any personal information be handed over to social media companies. I'm very pleased to continue to engage with the honourable member, as I'm sure she's keen to see results in this area as well.