Online Safety Amendment (Strengthening Enforcement for the Social Media Minimum Age) Bill 2026
Submission Date: 23 July 2026
The Law Council of Australia provided a submission to the Senate Environment and Communications Legislation Committee on proposed reforms to the Online Safety Act 2021 (Cth) (the Act) through the Online Safety Amendment (Strengthening Enforcement for the Social Media Minimum Age) Bill 2026 (the Bill).
As highlighted in the Law Council’s 2025 Call to Parties and Best Practice Legislative Development Checklist,1 robust and transparent consultation processes such as the present inquiry are important to provide adequate scrutiny of any proposed coercive powers and ensure appropriate safeguards.
The Law Council understands that the Bill would expand the eSafety Commissioner’s information-gathering powers under section 63G of the Act relating to the social media minimum-age framework.
1 Law Council of Australia, ‘Best Practice Legislative Development Checklist’ (Policy Statement, 25 June 2025) 1; Law Council of Australia, ‘Call to Parties 2025’ (Policy Statement, March 2025) 4-5.
Last Updated on 05/08/2026