Age assurance online: recent Australian developments

Earlier this year we considered recent overseas developments in the age assurance space. Here's a snapshot of the latest developments at home.

Consultation on the impending social media age restrictions

During May 2025 eSafety called for members of the Australian community, experts and online service providers to express their interest in being consulted on implementation of the social media age restrictions for children under 16. It has since advised that it received 256 expressions of interest, from a variety of sectors including industry and academia and research, as well as individuals. eSafety continues to review those expressions of interest, but has indicated that engagement with digital platforms likely to be directly impacted by the implementation of age restrictions, entities with relevant expertise of age assurance and complementary safety technologies, academics and researchers whose expertise focuses on the Australian context, as well as civil society and groups representing children, young people, parents and carers based in Australia will be prioritised. We understand that consultations are underway and updates will be published by eSafety soon.

Consumer research findings reveal community concerns

On 18 June 2025 the Australian Government outlined that the Consumer Research Report conducted by the Social Research Centre reveals that Australians generally understand the importance of age assurance as a means of preventing children from accessing inappropriate material online. However, there is a high level of security and privacy concerns, with only 4.4% of adults fully trusting online platforms to store personal information securely. Minister for Communications Anika Wells commented "this research shows Australians widely support our world-leading age restrictions on social media for under 16s and have strong expectations of platforms when it comes to data protection and security".

eSafety provides advice to the Minister on the draft Rules

On 19 June 2025 the eSafety Commissioner provided advice to the Minister on the draft Online Safety (Age Restricted Social Media Platforms) Rules 2025 (Cth). In brief, eSafety identified five options for consideration to make the draft Rules, in eSafety's view, clearer, less likely to be disallowed, subject to fewer compliance and enforcement challenges, and more capable of promoting the safety, wellbeing and rights of children. Notably, eSafety recommended that YouTube be removed from the draft Rules, the explanatory statement to the Rules provide guidance to support a shared understanding of the Australian Government's intention, and consideration be given to amending the draft Rules so they reflect both the purpose of the service as well as its risk of harm.

Preliminary findings of the Australian Government's Age Assurance Technology Trial

On 20 June 2025 the preliminary findings of the Australian Government's Age Assurance Technology Trial were presented. Among other things, the preliminary findings set out that the evaluation did not reveal any substantial technological limitations that would prevent age assurance systems being used in response to age related eligibility requirements established by policy makers.

The trial found that the systems were generally secure and consistent with information security standards, with developers actively addressing known attack vectors including AI-generated spoofing and forgeries. However, the preliminary findings outline that the trial found some concerning evidence that in the absence of specific guidance, service providers were over-anticipating the eventual needs of regulators about providing personal information for future investigations. There has been some media commentary as to the extent of data released as part of the preliminary findings. We will have to wait and see what the final report has in store; it's expected later this year.

Phase 2 industry codes

There are currently six phase 1 industry codes in operation, applying to social media services, app distribution services, hosting services, internet carriage services, equipment providers, and search engine services. (There are also two industry standards that are currently registered – they apply to relevant electronic services and designated internet services.)

Moving along to the phase 2 industry codes, the aim of these is to prevent children form accessing or being exposed to age-inappropriate material online and to provide all end-users with effective information, tools and options to limit access and exposure to this material. Industry associations submitted eight phase 2 industry codes during February and March 2025, and these have since been updated in May 2025 (following preliminary feedback from eSafety that the submitted codes would not provide the appropriate community safeguards required for them to be registered). On 27 June 2025, the eSafety Commissioner registered three of the phase 2 industry codes – Hosting Services, Internet Search Engine Services and Internet Carriage Services. The remaining five phase 2 industry codes are still under consideration.