Australia Digital Duty of Care Bill

Australiar7553 (48th Parliament)Updated October 28, 2026

75%of the way to law
Bad for your rightsIn progress

Passed the House of Representatives October 28, 2026, with 23 amendments; now before the Senate. Senate committee report due November 20, 2026

Makes social media and sites with porn check ages, which means checking every user, and lets the eSafety Commissioner run fake accounts.

Latest update

Second reading agreed to in the House of Representatives

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The bill

Read the full billOfficial bill record

Key facts

Where
Australia
Bill number
r7553 (48th Parliament)
Status
In progress
Introduced
October 15, 2026
Threat
High
Last update
October 28, 2026

Topics

Censorship billsPrivacy billsFree Speech billsSurveillance billsAge Verification billsArtificial Intelligence bills

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What it does

Filed October 15, 2026 by Communications Minister Anika Wells. It puts a broad "duty of care" on online services, from social media to search engines and AI tools. Sites where a child could reach porn must check ages and block anyone not confirmed as an adult. Social media must keep feeds, like counts and disappearing posts from under-16s. eSafety can run fake accounts, order search engines to delete links within 24 hours, and becomes a Privacy Act "enforcement body". Fines reach about A$109.2 million. The House added that AI chatbots simulating emotional intimacy with children count as harmful to them, and that eSafety's existing industry codes cannot be struck down for flawed consultation.

What’s at stake

To keep features from under-16s, a platform must first know who is under 16. That means checking the age of every user, adults included. Platforms must also police a vague category of material that "may cause serious harm to children" and, by law, cannot weigh cost when deciding what to do. That pushes them to remove lawful speech.

Our take

We oppose this bill. It makes age checks the price of using social media and reaching lawful adult material, lets a regulator operate under false names, and backs vague rules with nine-figure fines. The final version drops the Minister's power to invent new harms, and that does not fix the rest.

Timeline

  1. Senate Environment and Communications Legislation Committee report dueUpcoming

  2. Second reading agreed to in the House of RepresentativesLatest

  3. House agreed to 15 government amendments: eSafety's existing industry codes and standards cannot be invalidated for failed consultation, and the "seriously harmful" test no longer covers classified films and games, on-demand TV, or R18+ and X18+ material for adults

  4. House agreed to 8 amendments from independent MP Kate Chaney: AI chatbots that simulate emotional intimacy and foster a child's dependence now count as harmful to children, and user control tools must be prominent and easy to use (fines up to 6,000 penalty units)

  5. Third reading agreed to; passed the House of Representatives

  6. Second reading debate began in the House of Representatives

  7. Introduced and read a first time in the House of Representatives by Communications Minister Anika Wells; second reading moved

  8. Referred to the Senate Environment and Communications Legislation Committee; report due November 20, 2026

  9. Opposition Sen. Sarah Henderson released a statement calling the draft a political censorship bill that opens the door to covert surveillance

  10. Consultation on the exposure draft closed

  11. Government announced draft legislation for targeted consultation

The record

Sponsor

Anika Wells, Minister for Communications (Australian Labor Party)

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