MATTERS OF PUBLIC IMPORTANCE

Senator MARIELLE SMITH (South Australia) (16:57): I'm also rising to contribute to the debate on the MPI, as moved by Senator Payman, on a very serious issue, which we are discussing, and, for the most part, I want to acknowledge the way in which senators are conducting this debate, because it is a very serious issue that Senator Payman seeks to draw our attention to and discuss.

I also want to reassure the chamber and those who may be listening that the Albanese Labor government is taking decisive action, in an effort to minimise online harms and in an effort to hold big tech accountable. We are doing that through our world-leading Online Safety Act. To ensure the Online Safety Act remains fit for purpose, we brought forward an independent review of it.

That report was finalised in October 2024 and tabled on 4 February 2025. The government is now doing the work to carefully examine the 67 recommendations that that review contained, including recommendation 18 of the review to lower the threshold for behaviour to be considered adult cyberabuse. With the safety and wellbeing of Australians, and especially future generations, on the line, it's imperative that that work is done carefully and it's imperative that we get that work right.

I welcome the opportunity for this chamber to discuss these issues further and I welcome the opportunity to further discuss the importance of our government's reforms and the decisive action we are taking to minimise online harms and, as I said, to hold big tech accountable. This is something many of us in this chamber live with every day, and there is no issue that is discussed more by parents in my community, whether that's at the school gate at pick-up or at my kids' sporting clubs.

There's no issue raised with me more than the risks and harms that occur online, especially on social media, and just how difficult it is for parents, at times, to navigate how they can keep their children safe online. Too often we hear from families horrific stories of online abuse, of bullying and grooming of children, and stories of women driven to despair because of the online experience that they have—the abuse and the trolling.

The truth is that technology has no natural moral compass. Its impact depends on who created it and who is using it, and we know that people online are abusing it. Despite its incredible potential, in the wrong hands we see how technology is weaponised and used to abuse, and we see how technology is used to prey on the vulnerable.

That's why we as a government must continue in our mission of protecting Australians, with our focus especially on young Australians, from the harm that is presented in this online world. We've passed our historic, world-leading legislation to delay access to social media until the age of 16. Social media platforms will be accountable for demonstrating they have introduced the correct systems and processes to ensure that those under the age of 16 cannot create and hold a social media account, including if VPNs are used.

We know this is logistically possible for these platforms because it is their core business model to know who we are. It's their business model to target us with advertising. At a practical level, the eSafety Commissioner will be working with social media platforms to ensure they are taking reasonable steps to remove existing accounts held by children under the age of 16, prevent under-16s from opening new accounts and create processes to correct errors.

Importantly, we've quadrupled the eSafety Commissioner's base funding to ensure that they can enforce the law to help Australians who face serious abuse online and to educate Australians about online risks. Of course, we know that the first step in making sure tech is working for users and not against them or being used for harm is by creating a digital duty of care, and we as a government will be starting consultation on that soon.

The digital duty of care will place the onus on these digital platforms to proactively keep Australians safe and to better prevent online harms. We've also committed to delivering recommendation 27 of the Online Safety Act review to restrict access to 'nudify' apps and undetectable stalking tools, an important reform which will go some way to helping ensure that online is a safer place to be.

All of this works alongside other laws already in place prohibiting stalking and the distribution of non-consensual deepfake sexually explicit materials. This is an important debate. These are important issues which affect many of us in this chamber.

Too many women outside and too many children in our community are at risk and at risk of serious harm. Our government takes it seriously, and our agenda of policy work reflects that.