In November 2024, Australia’s Parliament passed the Online Safety Amendment (Social Media Minimum Age) Bill 2024. The bill was introduced to address ongoing concerns about the impact of children’s access to social media platforms.

The new legislation will come into effect on 10 December 2025.

The age restrictions are likely to apply to Instagram, Facebook, Snapchat, TikTok and YouTube among other platforms. Online gaming and standalone messaging apps are among the types of services that will not be included.

The restrictions aim to protect young Australians from the pressures and risks that users can be exposed to while logged in to social media accounts. These come from design features that encourage them to spend more time on screens, while also serving up content that can harm their health and wellbeing.

It is important to be aware that these restrictions are aimed at Social Media platforms and places greater accountability on them in an effort to keep children safe. The platforms will be required to implement processes to restrict children under the age of 16 years from accessing the social media platforms.  

As part of this legislation, there will be no penalties for children under-16s who access an age-restricted social media platform, or for their parents or carers. The penalties will apply to social media platforms if they don’t take reasonable steps to prevent under-16 from having accounts.

For more information visit eSafety’s Social Media Age Restrictions Hub.