Online Safety Amendment (Strengthening Enforcement for the Social Media Minimum Age) Bill 2026

Senator HANSON-YOUNG (South Australia—Manager of Australian Greens Business in the Senate) (18:41): For the record, the Greens support these amendments because we were in the Senate inquiry and we asked the questions of the eSafety Commissioner. The eSafety Commissioner confirmed that they had indeed asked the government for these powers well before the government had drafted and put forward this existing piece of legislation, so I don't know why it was left off the list.

That seems to be a mystery to me, but I'm glad that it is now on there. What I would like to know is: in relation to the remainder of the bills, does the government genuinely believe that a $99 million fine is sufficient to hold these tech companies to account?