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2022-2023
THE PARLIAMENT OF THE COMMONWEALTH OF AUSTRALIA
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
ONLINE SAFETY AMENDMENT (PROTECTING AUSTRALIAN CHILDREN FROM
ONLINE HARM) BILL 2023
EXPLANATORY MEMORANDUM
and
STATEMENT OF COMPATIBILITY WITH HUMAN RIGHTS
Circulated by authority of
David Coleman MP
ONLINE SAFETY AMENDMENT (PROTECTING AUSTRALIAN CHILDREN FROM
ONLINE HARM) BILL 2023
OUTLINE
The purpose of the Bill is to require the Minister to conduct a trial of age verification
technologies as a way of protecting children from online harms such as pornography.
The trial would be in line with the recommendations of the eSafety Commissioner's
Roadmap for age verification which was released in August 2023.
The Commissioner recommended that the Government conduct a trial of "age assurance"
technologies. Age assurance technology is designed to reduce the incidences of children
accessing inappropriate material online.
The Commissioner made the recommendation in response to a specific referral from the
former Coalition Government. That referral was made following the release of the 2020
Protecting the Age of Innocence report of the House of Representatives Standing
Committee on Social Policy and Legal Affairs.
The current Government, in its response to the eSafety Commissioner's Roadmap,
released in August 2023, rejected the recommendation for trial. Instead, it announced
plans to develop industry codes to address the matters raised in the Commissioner's
report.
The Coalition has confirmed support for such a trial to occur and this Bill supports that
initiative.
FINANCIAL IMPACT
The bill will have no financial impact.
NOTES ON CLAUSES
The Bill would amend the Online Safety Act, adding an additional clause 'B' to section 239
of the Act. The full text of the draft Bill is below:
Online Safety Act 2021
1 After section 239A
Insert:
239B Trial of age assurance technologies
(1) The Minister must cause to be conducted a trial of age assurance technologies
in accordance with recommendation 2 of the Commissioner's Roadmap for age
verification.
Note: An overview of this recommendation is for the Government to develop, implement and
evaluate a pilot before seeking to prescribe and mandate age assurance technologies
for access to online pornography.
(2) Without limiting this recommendation, the trial is to be conducted to allow for
multiple use cases, including online wagering, online alcohol sales and
establishing a minimum age for using a social media service.
(3) The Minister must cause to be prepared a written report on the progress of the
trial every 6 months after the commencement of this section until the trial is
complete.
(4) The Minister must cause copies of each report to be tabled in each House of
the Parliament within 15 sitting days of that House after the day on which the
report is given to the Minister.
(5) In this section:
Roadmap for age verification means the Roadmap for age verification and
complementary measures to prevent and mitigate harms to children from online
pornography, prepared by the Commissioner in March 2023.
Note: The Roadmap could in 2023 be viewed on the Commissioner's website
(https://www.esafety.gov.au/).
Subsection (1) requires the Minister to conduct a trial of age assurance technologies, in
line with the recommendations of the eSafety Commissioner's Roadmap for age
verification.
Subsection (2) allows other applications under the trial, beyond the primary purpose
regarding pornography. The items included in this subsection reflect the
recommendations in the eSafety Commissioner's Roadmap, as set out in the 'multiple use
cases' section of the report.
Subsection (3) requires the Minister to provide progress reports on the status of the trial
every 6 months.
Subsection (4) requires the Minister to table reports on the status of the trail in both
Houses of Parliament within 15 sitting days of receiving the reports.
Subsection (5) clarifies what that the Roadmap for age verification is and provides details
of an online site to locate the report.
STATEMENT OF COMPATIBILITY WITH HUMAN RIGHTS
Prepared in accordance with Part 3 of the Human Rights (Parliamentary Scrutiny) Act 2011
Online Safety Amendment (Protecting Australian Children from Online Harm) Bill 2023
This bill is compatible with the human rights and freedoms recognised or declared in the
international instruments listed in section 3 of the Human Rights (Parliamentary Scrutiny)
Act 2011.
Overview of the bill
This Bill amends on the Online Safety Act to require the Minister for Communications to
conduct a trial of age assurance technologies in accordance with recommendation 2 of the
eSafety Commissioner's Roadmap for age verification. The Minister would be required to
provide status updates on the trial every six months and table those updates in both
Houses of Parliament within 15 sitting days of receiving those reports.
Human rights implications
This Bill is compatible with human rights as it advances the protection of human rights,
particularly in relation to the protection of children from online harm. It would aim to
improve greater respect and appropriate behaviours towards women. The eSafety
Commissioner's Roadmap for age verification proposed the option of a cross-government
steering committee to oversee the trial, which may include the Australian Human Rights
Commission, to examine the issue of children's best interests and broader human rights
considerations. Any limitations placed on individuals or industry are considered to be
reasonable, necessary and proportionate in responding to the growing community
concerns about the pervasive impacts of online pornography and other issues arising from
inappropriate online content.
Conclusion
This Bill is compatible with human rights to the extent that it may limit human rights, those
limitations are reasonable, necessary and proportionate. To the extent that it may provide
limitations to online content for some users, those limitations are considered to be
reasonable and responsible.
Hon David Coleman MP