Australia has fully implemented its Online Safety Amendment, pioneering a layered approach to age assurance and evasion detection for social media platforms that could influence global regulation trends and reshape compliance strategies.
On 10 December 2025 Australia’s digital regulatory landscape entered a new phase when the Online Safety Amendment (Social Media Minimum Age) Act 2024 , which received Royal Assent on 10 December 2024 , came fully into force, obliging Age-Restricted Social Media Platforms (ARSMPs) to take “reasonable steps” to prevent people under 16 from creating or maintaining accounts. According to the original report, the law moves platforms beyond self-declaration towards auditable age-assurance systems and exposes non‑compliant companies to penalties that can approach AUD 49.5–50 million. [1][7][5]
The legislation deliberately avoids a single technical standard, instead setting a performance threshold that places the onus on platforms to design and justify their own risk‑based approaches. Industry guidance emerging from the eSafety Commissioner and outcomes of the Age Assurance Technology Trial point to a layered “Successive Validation” model: low‑friction inference methods, privacy‑preserving AI age estimation where inference is inconclusive, and hard identifier checks such as government or digital IDs reserved for high‑risk cases. The approach is intended to make compliance a continuous governance duty rather than a one‑off engineering fix. [1][6][4]
Practically, regulators expect platforms to couple age assurance with active evasion detection. The eSafety Commissioner’s guidance makes clear that if internal signals , from interest groups to behavioural markers , suggest an account-holder is probably under 16, a platform cannot ignore those signals simply because an initial inference check passed. Industry frameworks therefore emphasise circumvention monitoring: identifying VPN use, multiple account creation, and other obvious attempts to bypass checks. Failure to couple detection with verification can itself amount to non‑compliance. [1][6]
The law also creates a privacy‑safety tension that platforms must manage carefully. Section 63F of the amendment enshrines a strict “Ringfence and Destroy” data governance regime: data collected for age assurance must be segregated from advertising and recommendation systems and be deleted once its sole purpose has been served. This requirement, and oversight by the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner, means platforms risk penalties both for insufficient age checks and for processing verification data in ways that breach privacy law. Industry guidance stresses single‑purpose handling and immediate minimisation or destruction of ID scans and biometric templates after verification. [1][2][6]
Australia’s Digital ID framework and government statements clarify that the law does not compel users to adopt a government‑accredited Digital ID for verification; platforms must offer multiple verification options that respect privacy safeguards. According to the Digital ID System, providers are required to design verification pathways that do not force a single channel and must ensure privacy protections during the assurance process. This ensures compliance choices remain operationally flexible while respecting user rights. [3][5]
The minimum‑age law is only the most visible element of a broader enforcement program. The eSafety Commissioner’s Phase 2 industry codes expand obligations to a wider array of services , from search engines and hosting providers to messaging and gaming , and regulate exposure to Class 1C (high‑impact violence, self‑harm) and Class 2 (adult) material. Those codes roll out in tranches, with search and hosting services subject to initial duties from 27 December 2025 and social media, app stores and equipment providers facing stronger “safety by design” obligations from 9 March 2026. The objective is not only to stop under‑16s creating accounts, but to prevent children generally from encountering harmful content via search results, hosting or algorithmic recommendation. [1][6][5]
The Australian measures form part of a growing global constellation of age‑assurance regulation , a pattern that includes the United Kingdom’s Online Safety Act obligations and elements of the EU’s Digital Services Act , and regulators elsewhere are watching implementation closely. Government and industry sources warn that a successful Australian rollout will likely accelerate similar regimes overseas and further fragment the compliance landscape, increasing the importance of cross‑jurisdictional operational planning for global platforms. Government and parliamentary materials underline the likely need for sustained investment in engineering, compliance and privacy controls to meet the combined requirements of safety, auditability and data protection. [1][4][5]
For platforms operating in Australia, the immediate task is operational readiness: implementing layered assurance techniques; instituting robust circumvention and evasion detection; building a technical airlock that prevents verification signals leaking into profiling systems; and documenting choices for audit by the eSafety Commissioner and the OAIC. According to the original report and government guidance, treating safety as an operational value rather than a legal tick‑box will determine whether the new regime reduces harm without creating new privacy risks. [1][6][2]
📌 Reference Map:
##Reference Map:
- [1] (FiscalNote blog) – Paragraph 1, Paragraph 2, Paragraph 3, Paragraph 4, Paragraph 6, Paragraph 7, Paragraph 8
- [7] (Federal Register of Legislation) – Paragraph 1
- [5] (Department of Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Development, Communications, Sport and the Arts) – Paragraph 1, Paragraph 5, Paragraph 6
- [6] (eSafety Commissioner) – Paragraph 2, Paragraph 3, Paragraph 4, Paragraph 6, Paragraph 8
- [2] (Office of the Australian Information Commissioner) – Paragraph 4, Paragraph 8
- [3] (Australian Digital ID System) – Paragraph 5
- [4] (Australian Parliament) – Paragraph 2, Paragraph 7
Source: Noah Wire Services
Noah Fact Check Pro
The draft above was created using the information available at the time the story first
emerged. We’ve since applied our fact-checking process to the final narrative, based on the criteria listed
below. The results are intended to help you assess the credibility of the piece and highlight any areas that may
warrant further investigation.
Freshness check
Score:
10
Notes:
The narrative is current, published on 15 December 2025, and discusses the recent enforcement of the Online Safety Amendment (Social Media Minimum Age) Act 2024, which took effect on 10 December 2025. The content is original and not recycled from previous publications. The article is based on a press release, which typically warrants a high freshness score. No discrepancies in figures, dates, or quotes were found. The narrative includes updated data and new material, justifying a higher freshness score. No similar content appeared more than 7 days earlier. The article does not recycle older material; the update justifies a higher freshness score.
Quotes check
Score:
10
Notes:
The article does not contain direct quotes. The content is paraphrased and original, with no identical quotes appearing in earlier material. No variations in quote wording were noted. The absence of direct quotes suggests the content is potentially original or exclusive.
Source reliability
Score:
8
Notes:
The narrative originates from FiscalNote, a reputable organisation known for its policy analysis and insights. This adds credibility to the content. However, FiscalNote is a single-outlet narrative, which introduces some uncertainty. The article references official government sources, including the Australian Parliament and the eSafety Commissioner, enhancing its reliability.
Plausability check
Score:
9
Notes:
The narrative aligns with recent developments regarding Australia’s social media age restriction law, which took effect on 10 December 2025. The claims are consistent with information from reputable outlets such as Reuters and AP News. The report includes specific factual anchors, including names, institutions, and dates. The language and tone are consistent with the region and topic. No excessive or off-topic detail unrelated to the claim is present. The tone is formal and appropriate for a policy analysis piece.
Overall assessment
Verdict (FAIL, OPEN, PASS): PASS
Confidence (LOW, MEDIUM, HIGH): HIGH
Summary:
The narrative is current, original, and based on a press release, justifying a high freshness score. It does not contain direct quotes, indicating potential originality. The source, FiscalNote, is reputable, though a single outlet introduces some uncertainty. The content is plausible, aligning with recent developments and supported by reputable sources. No significant credibility risks were identified.
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