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Australia: Announced Bill introducing a minimum age of 16 for access to social media platforms under Online Safety Act 2021 (OSA)

Policy overview

Description

Announced Bill introducing a minimum age of 16 for access to social media platforms under Online Safety Act 2021 (OSA)

On 7 November 2024, the Prime Minister and Minister for Communications announced that they would introduce a Bill establishing a minimum age of 16 for access to social media platforms. The Bill aligns with existing provisions under the Online Safety…

Scope

Policy Area
Consumer protection
Policy Instrument
Age verification requirement
Regulated Economic Activity
platform intermediary: user-generated content
Implementation Level
national
Government Branch
executive
Government Body
central government

Complete timeline of this policy change

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2024-09-10
under deliberation

On 10 September 2024, the Albanese Government announced it will introduce legislation to enforce a …

2024-11-07
under deliberation

On 7 November 2024, the Prime Minister and Minister for Communications announced that they would in…

2024-11-21
under deliberation

On 21 November 2024, the Online Safety Amendment (Social Media Minimum Age) Bill 2024 was introduce…

2024-11-28
adopted

On 28 November 2024, the Online Safety Amendment (Social Media Minimum Age) Bill 2024 was passed by…

2024-12-10
adopted

On 10 December 2024, the Online Safety Amendment (Social Media Minimum Age) Bill 2024 received Roya…

2024-12-11
in grace period

On 11 December 2024, the Online Safety Amendment (Social Media Minimum Age) Act 2024 commenced, fol…

2025-12-10
in force

On 10 December 2025, the requirement for providers of age-restricted social media platforms to take…