The Albanese Government has passed the Online Safety Amendment (Social Media Minimum Age) Bill 2024, establishing a minimum age of 16 years for social media use in Australia and placing the onus on social media platforms to prevent Australians under 16 years of age from creating accounts.

Breaches of the new legislation could result in penalties of up to $49.5 million for the 'age-restricted social media platforms', including Snapchat, TikTok, Facebook, Instagram, and others as defined in the Bill. YouTube will not come under the new restrictions.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said: "We’ve passed important legislation to keep our kids safe online. Social media is doing social harm to our kids. We’ve called time on it. We want our kids to have a childhood and parents to know we have their backs."

The new laws will come into effect no later than 12 months from the passage of the Bill.

It comes just several months after Albanese first confirmed his intention to implement an age limit on social media platforms, after giving his support in May to a social change campaign calling on the Government to raise the minimum age on social media platforms to 16. The campaign, 36 Months, was fronted by radio personality Michael 'Wippa' Wipfli and advertising industry stalwart and founder of FINCH, Rob Galluzzo.

Minister for Communications, Michelle Rowland, said: "The Albanese Government is resolute in its commitment to keeping children safe online, and the passage of this vital legislation is just one way we’re delivering on this commitment. We’ve listened to young people, parents and carers, experts and industry in developing these landmark laws to ensure they are centred on protecting young people – not isolating them. Good government is about facing up to difficult reform - we know these laws are novel, but to do nothing is simply not an option. Over the next 12 months, we’ll work closely with industry and experts to ensure the minimum age is effectively implemented, informed by the findings of the Age Assurance Technology Trial currently underway."

Under the new law, teenagers until 16 will be permitted to continuing accessing to messaging, online gaming, and services and apps primarily for education and health support. The Bill also contains robust privacy provisions, requiring platforms to destroy any data collected for age assurance purposes.

The Bill specifies that no Australian will be compelled to use government identification for age assurance on social media. Platforms must offer reasonable alternatives.

Meta, who has strongly opposed the ban, and previously raised concerns the Government was rushing through legislation to enact a social media ban for under 16s "without adequate consultation or evidence", urged the government to undertake "productive consultation" to "ensure a technically feasible outcome that does not place an onerous burden on parents and teens" and that rules are applied consistently "across all social apps used by teens".

“Naturally, we respect the laws decided by the Australian Parliament. However, we are concerned about the process which rushed the legislation through while failing to properly consider the evidence, what industry already does to ensure age-appropriate experiences, and the voices of young people," said a Meta spokesperson.

"Last week, the Parliament’s own committee said the "causal link with social media appears unclear,” with respect to the mental health of young Australians, whereas this week the rushed Senate Committee report pronounced that social media caused harm. This demonstrates the lack of evidence underpinning the legislation and suggests this was a predetermined process.

The spokesperson concluded: "One simple option is age verification at the operating system and app store level which reduces the burden and minimises the amount of sensitive information shared.”