Australian Government looks to double down on enforcement of social media age restrictions

The government announced its intention on 28 June to expand the powers of the eSafety commissioner and double the maximum financial penalties applicable to social media platforms for breaches of Australia's social media minimum age law.

Currently, failure by an age-restricted social media platform to take reasonable steps to prevent users under 16 from holding accounts will attract a civil penalty of up to AU$49.5 million – but the new proposals would double this for systematic breaches to the AU$99 million.

The proposals come six months after the social media minimum age law began under the Online Safety Act 2021, and in the wake of the eSafety Commissioner’s March 2026 Compliance Update, which identified a number of specific practices that, in her view, gave rise to compliance concerns.

These include allowing users who had previously self-declared as under 16 to revise their age through low-confidence methods such as facial age estimation. The Commissioner also identified concerns about platforms allowing repeated attempts using the same age assurance method, rather than escalating to more robust methods.

Veronica Scott, an expert in privacy and digital law with Pinsent Masons in Melbourne, said the proposed new information-gathering powers would materially increase the risk of enforcement action.

“Enforcement depends on eSafety gathering sufficient evidence that a platform has failed to take reasonable steps to prevent children under 16 from having an account,” she explained.

“It is clear that the government is not stepping away from its commitment to online safety for children, with eSafety’s own survey data suggesting that most children have been able to circumvent the age restriction. “Restricted social media platforms will need to be ready to demonstrate the measures they have implemented and their effectiveness and industry age assurance providers can expect to be tested.”

The proposed enhanced regulatory powers would also enable the commissioner to issue directions to social media platforms requiring the production of evidence demonstrating the steps taken to prevent under-16s from obtaining accounts.

The amendments will confer broader authority to compel the production of information and documents necessary to assess whether platforms are meeting their obligations under Australian law.

eSafety is currently investigating potential non-compliance in relation to five platforms. The Commissioner has indicated that at least some should be finalised soon and a decision reached on what, if any, enforcement action is appropriate.

Elly Krambias, a cyber and privacy expert with Pinsent Masons added: “Significantly, this authority will extend to third parties, including age assurance and app-store providers, to enable the Commissioner to independently verify or test representations made by platforms about their compliance measures.”

Australia's social media minimum age reform has focussed greater attention on a broader global movement toward enhanced protections for young people online, with a number of jurisdictions now planning similar legislative measures.

This includes the United Kingdom, which has announced plans to ban social media platforms from offering their services to under-16s from spring 2027, but also going beyond Australia's model, with additional restrictions on harmful functions such as live streaming and stranger communication with children, in what has been dubbed an "Australia Plus" approach to online safety.