Australia: Online Safety Amendment (Social Media Minimum Age) Act 2024 minimum-age requirement enters into force

On 10 December 2025, the requirement for providers of age-restricted social media platforms to take reasonable steps to prevent users under 16 years of age from having accounts enters into force, following a commencement date set within the 12-month implementation period allowed after the Online Safety Amendment (Social Media Minimum Age) Act’s commencement. From this date, all accounts held by users under 16 years of age, including those created before the enforcement start date, became subject to the age-assurance obligation. The enforcement framework also applied rules relating to permitted and prohibited forms of identification material, privacy protections for information collected to confirm age, the destruction of that information after use, publication of provider non-compliance notifications, and the application of civil penalties of 30’000 penalty units for breaches of minimum-age requirements.