Australia is set to become the first country in the world to enforce a minimum age requirement for social media use, with legislation due to take effect in December.
The landmark policy, which will prohibit children under 16 from creating or maintaining social media accounts, has sparked widespread debate among educators, legal experts, and child safety advocates.
To explore the implications of this unprecedented move, UNSW Sydney will host a panel event titled Playground or Hunting Ground: Kids on Social Media on Thursday, 14 August. The discussion will bring together leading voices in law, child protection, and policing to assess whether Australia is ready for the change – and what it means for schools, families, and tech platforms.
Moderated by Professor Michael Salter, Director of Childlight East Asia and Pacific Hub and a globally recognised expert on child sexual exploitation, the panel will examine the risks children face online and the challenges of enforcing the new law.
Professor Salter argues that social media has been designed for adults but aggressively marketed to children, creating environments where young users are vulnerable to exploitation.
“The social media ‘ban’ is no different to the age ‘bans’ that we apply to alcohol, cigarettes or driving a car,” Professor Salter said. “It’s possible to design social media services that are safe and healthy for children. But companies have pursued profit above safety and encouraged children to use services where they can be easily targeted by adult perpetrators.”
Under the new legislation, platforms will face multi-million-dollar fines if they fail to take reasonable steps to prevent underage users from accessing their services. However, questions remain about how the law will be enforced and which platforms will be affected.
The panel will feature:
- Carolyn Jones, Principal Solicitor (Harm Practice), Youth Law Australia
- Associate Professor Katharine Kemp, UNSW Law & Justice
- Venessa Ninovic, Senior Intelligence Analyst, NSW Police Force
Associate Professor Kemp, who leads UNSW’s Public Interest Law & Tech Initiative, has voiced concerns about the scope and design of the legislation.
“It’s overbroad in that it has an excessive impact on beneficial uses of some of these platform services by children and too great an impact on the privacy of all Australian internet users,” she said. “The solution is also too narrow in that it fails to get to the heart of the matter: the deeply unsafe design of online spaces.”
Ms Kemp also criticised the government’s rushed consultation process, which she said lasted just one day and excluded key voices from psychology, suicide prevention, and children’s rights advocacy.
The event is part of UNSW’s Legal Hour series, a biannual showcase of legal thought leadership addressing major issues shaping Australia’s future. Educators, policymakers, and community leaders are encouraged to attend and contribute to the conversation about how best to protect young Australians in the digital age.
Event Details
Time: Thursday 14 August, 6–8PM
Location: The Mint, 10 Macquarie St, Sydney
More reading: Helping teens thrive online: screens, social media and mental health
