Portfolio — 29 June 2026

The Government announced new legislation to sharpen enforcement of the social-media minimum-age law, with the maximum penalty for breaches doubling to $99 million [TA-260628-infras-1bcd89a530bf:m00AMR]. The reforms also double the fine for failing to respond to the eSafety Commissioner's information-gathering notices, and — most significantly — grant the Commissioner new compulsory powers to demand compliance evidence directly from social-media platforms, including from third parties such as age-assurance and app-store providers [TA-260628-infras-1bcd89a530bf:m00AMR].

The package frames the regulator as an active enforcement body rather than a passive monitor: eSafety is currently investigating potential non-compliance by Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, TikTok and YouTube. Since the under-16 account ban commenced on 10 December, more than 5 million accounts have been removed, deactivated or restricted — a figure the Government is using to demonstrate the law's operational reach before the stronger enforcement tools are in place.

Minister for Communications Anika Wells is named alongside the announcement, signalling a joint communications-and-infrastructure messaging posture on the big-tech accountability agenda. The central policy signal is that the Government considers the existing penalty and information-access architecture insufficient to hold major platforms to account, and is legislating to close those gaps.