Overview
- The government introduced legislation on Monday, June 29 that raises the maximum penalty for systematic breaches from A$49.5 million to A$99 million and creates separate fines of up to A$1.65 million for refusing to hand over documents.
- The bill gives the eSafety Commissioner stronger investigatory powers to compel internal company records such as board minutes and emails and to demand evidence from third parties including age-verification and app-store providers.
- eSafety is actively investigating five major platforms — Facebook/Instagram, YouTube, TikTok and Snapchat — but no company has yet been fined and some firms face legal challenges, including a pending case by Reddit.
- Independent research published in The BMJ and regulator reports found wide-scale circumvention three months after the ban, with under-16s using fake accounts, reused logins, VPNs and repeat age-verification attempts that rely on self-declared ages.
- The move is being watched internationally as a test of whether stronger enforcement and compelled evidence can close compliance gaps without creating intrusive age‑verification systems that raise privacy and legal concerns, and senators have called for further scrutiny before final passage.