Social media ban for under-16s could be scrapped
Since December 2025, big social media apps must take sensible steps to stop Australians under 16 from having accounts. Seven senators want to scrap that law in full.
Official name: Social Media Minimum Age Repeal Bill 2025
- The bill would cancel the whole 2024 law that set a lowest age for social media.
- Apps would no longer have to stop under-16s from having accounts. They would face no fines for it.
- Higher fines for breaking online safety codes and standards would drop back to 500 penalty units.
- It is a private bill from seven senators. It is still before the Senate.
Who it affects
- Children and teenagers under 16: They could legally have accounts on apps such as TikTok, Instagram and Snapchat again.
- Parents: The law would no longer make apps keep under-16s off, so the choice would be up to families and the apps' own rules.
- Social media companies: They would lose the duty to check ages and block under-16 accounts, and the large fines that come with it.
- The eSafety Commissioner: The online safety watchdog would lose its jobs and powers linked to the age limit.
Under-16s banned since December 2025
In 2024 Parliament passed a law that set a lowest age for social media. Its name is the Online Safety Amendment (Social Media Minimum Age) Act 2024. It changed the Online Safety Act 2021, the main federal law on harm online.
That law says some social media apps must take sensible steps to stop Australians under 16 from having accounts. The rule started on 10 December 2025.
The online safety watchdog (the eSafety Commissioner) checks that the law is followed. The Parliamentary Library works for all MPs and takes no side. Its guide to a later bill gives a figure from the watchdog. It says apps closed 4.7 million accounts held by under-16s by mid-December 2025.
Seven senators brought this private bill to the Senate on 25 November 2025. They are Ralph Babet, Alex Antic, Matthew Canavan, Pauline Hanson, Malcolm Roberts, Sean Bell and Tyron Whitten.
A private bill is one brought by members of Parliament who are not ministers. The senators' notes on the bill say its aim is to undo every change the 2024 law made.
Minimum age rules removed
The heart of the 2024 law is Part 4A of the Online Safety Act. This bill would cut Part 4A out in full.
That means the terms for apps and users covered by the age limit would be deleted. Apps would no longer have to take sensible steps to keep under-16s off.
Part 4A also has rules on how apps collect details to check ages. These include limits on asking for government ID. They would go too.
So would the fines. The top court fine for an app that fails the age duty is 30,000 penalty units. Courts can fine a company five times that. One penalty unit was $364 from 1 July 2026.
Say a 14-year-old wants to open an Instagram account. Under this bill, the app would not be breaking Australian law by letting her sign up.
Changes to eSafety's job
The bill would take away the online safety watchdog's jobs that relate to the age limit.
It would also cut other sections the 2024 law added to the Online Safety Act. So the law would go back to how it was before 2024.
Fines for breaking safety codes
The Online Safety Act lets the tech industry write codes about harmful online material. These codes are rule books the industry writes for itself. It lets the watchdog set standards. The 2024 law raised the fines for breaking these.
This bill would set the top fine back to 500 penalty units. That covers ignoring an order to follow an industry code. It also covers failing to follow an industry standard.
The lower fines would apply to orders given, and rules broken, after the bill starts. This holds even for codes and standards made earlier.
Age discrimination law
The 2024 law added an item to the Age Discrimination Act 2004. That item means following the age limit does not count as unfair treatment because of age.
The age limit would be gone, so this bill would remove that item too.
Waiting in the Senate
If passed, the law would start on the day the Governor-General signs it. The Governor-General is the King's stand-in in Australia.
The bill was brought to the Senate on 25 November 2025. The Senate is the second house of Parliament, which checks bills. Debate on the main idea of the bill began the same day. There has been no debate or vote since.
It is still before the Senate. To become law, it must pass the Senate and the House of Representatives. Then the Governor-General must sign it.
Its journey through Parliament
| 25 Nov 2025 | Senate: Introduced and read a first time |
| 25 Nov 2025 | Senate: Second reading moved |