MEDIA STATEMENT
30 July 2026
The Coalition led the way on protecting children online and dragged the Labor Government kicking and screaming into adopting what has become the world’s first social media minimum age. I have consistently supported stronger action to protect children from the very real harms they face online.
I’ve worked on online safety issues for many years, from helping establish Australia’s world-leading online safety framework to chairing parliamentary inquiries that recommended stronger age assurance measures to protect children. I have always believed that keeping children safe online is one of the most important responsibilities of any government.
Suggestions that the Online Safety Amendment (Strengthening Enforcement for the Social Media Minimum Age) Bill is being treated as a political football are simply wrong. Our focus has always been, and remains, ensuring these laws deliver the protection Australian families expect and deserve.
The Coalition’s objective has always been the same: to make sure these laws deliver real, tangible change for Australian families. We will always support sensible improvements that strengthen the law and ensure it actually protects children. If loopholes exist, they should be closed. If enforcement powers are inadequate, they should be strengthened. That’s not playing politics, that’s doing our job.
The Government’s decision to strengthen the law by giving the eSafety Commissioner greater powers and increasing penalties is an acknowledgement that the original legislation has not been working as intended. Too many children are still finding ways onto platforms that should not be available to them.
The focus now must be on enforcement.
There is little point having world-leading legislation if social media companies believe they can ignore it or exploit loopholes without consequence. These are some of the largest and wealthiest companies in the world. They have the technology, the resources and the capability to verify users’ ages and comply with Australian law. If they are not doing so, they should be held accountable.
If loopholes exist, they should be closed as quickly as possible. Australian parents deserve confidence that these laws are delivering the protections Parliament intended.
I support stronger information-gathering powers for the eSafety Commissioner and tougher penalties where companies deliberately fail to meet their legal obligations. But stronger penalties only matter if they are backed by genuine enforcement. Big Tech must know there are real consequences for failing to comply with Australian law.
There is also more work to do. We need to continue strengthening parental safety tools, tackle the algorithms that drive addictive doom-scrolling and harmful content, restrict features such as livestreaming that are being exploited to target children, and give our law enforcement agencies every tool they need to combat online child exploitation.
Australian parents don’t care who actions it. They care that their children are safer online. That is what I will continue fighting for.
[ENDS]
Media Contact: Brendan West – 0402 556 646 – Brendan.west@aph.gov.au