Instruments
Each one links to its
LexLint note, which carries what it requires and what it flags on.
Adult content age verification (AV)
Requires providers of designated internet services, including websites hosting online pornography and generative AI services capable of producing Class 1C or Class 2 material, to implement age assurance and access controls to prevent access by children in Australia. Registered by the eSafety Commissioner on 9 September 2025.
Note and primary source →
Requires providers of internet search engine services, such as Google Search and Bing, to implement appropriate age assurance measures so that account holders are checked as over or under 18 before search results can surface Class 1C or Class 2 material, including online pornography. Registered by the eSafety Commissioner on 27 June 2025, with the age assurance measure itself required within 6 months of the code coming into effect, by 27 June 2026.
Note and primary source →
Age-appropriate design code
Requires the Australian Information Commissioner to develop and register an Australian Privacy Principles code addressing the privacy of children, covering social media services, relevant electronic services and designated internet services likely to be accessed by children, within 24 months of the amending Act's Royal Assent on 10 December 2024, that is, by 10 December 2026.
An exposure draft, drawing partly on the UK Age Appropriate Design Code, was released for public consultation from 31 March to 5 June 2026 and includes proportionate age assurance and limits on retaining facial age estimation data, but the Code is not yet finalised or registered.
Note and primary source →
App store age verification (AV)
Requires app store and app distribution platform operators, such as the Apple App Store and Google Play, to take reasonable steps, including age assurance and access controls, before permitting the download or purchase of an app containing Class 1C or Class 2 material such as pornography. Registered by the eSafety Commissioner on 9 September 2025, with the age assurance measure required within 6 months of commencement, by about 9 September 2026.
Note and primary source →
News media bargaining code
Three-bill package released for public consultation on 28 April 2026, proposing a 2.25% levy on Australian revenues of platforms with A$250 million+ annual Australian revenue (Meta, Google, TikTok) unless they maintain qualifying deals with eligible news publishers; offsets of 150% (larger publishers) and 170% (smaller publishers) incentivise voluntary bargaining, with the levy revenue distributed to news publishers via a statutory payment scheme. Intended to apply from 1 July 2026.
Consultation closed 18 May 2026; as of late June 2026 the bills had not been introduced to Parliament, with introduction delayed until after the winter recess beginning 2 July 2026.
Note and primary source →
cite No. 21, 2021 (Cth)
stage IN FORCE in force since 2021-03-02
source https://www.accc.gov.au/by-industry/digital-platforms-and-services/news-media-bargaining-code/news-media-bargaining-code
Inserts Part IVBA into the Competition and Consumer Act 2010 (Cth), creating a mandatory bargaining framework between 'registered news businesses' and 'designated digital platform services' where a significant bargaining power imbalance exists. The Treasurer may formally designate a platform after considering imbalance and news-industry sustainability; once designated, platforms face compulsory arbitration. No platform has been formally designated.
Following the code's enactment Google and Meta struck voluntary deals covering 30+ news businesses, but Meta ceased renewals in 2024 and Google in 2025, prompting the News Bargaining Incentive proposal.
Note and primary source →
Snippet reproduction
Section 42 provides that fair dealing with a literary, dramatic, musical, or artistic work does not infringe copyright if done for the purpose of, or in association with, reporting news in a newspaper, magazine, or similar periodical (with sufficient acknowledgment), or by means of a communication or cinematograph film.
The exception is narrow: it turns on the purpose of the party claiming it, not the end-use of the content, which means third-party aggregators and clipping services generally cannot rely on it.
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cite (1990) 37 FCR 99
stage IN FORCE in force since 1990-07-06
source https://classic.austlii.edu.au/au/journals/CommsLawB/1990/36.pdf
Justice Beaumont held that a press-clipping/media-monitoring service that reproduced newspaper articles for commercial clients could not rely on the s 42 fair-dealing exception for news reporting, because the relevant purpose is the defendant's own purpose rather than its customers'.
The decision establishes that news aggregators and redistributors must obtain licences; De Garis has not been overruled and remains the leading Australian authority on third-party limits to the news-reporting fair-dealing defence.
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Social media and minors
Legislative instrument made by the Minister for Communications, registered and commencing on 30 July 2025, that excludes specified categories of service from the age-restricted social media platform definition, so the section 63D minimum age obligation (which itself commenced 10 December 2025) does not apply to them.
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Requires a provider of an age-restricted social media platform to take reasonable steps to prevent Australians under 16 from having an account. Received Royal Assent on 10 December 2024 and the section 63D civil penalty obligation commenced 12 months later, on 10 December 2025.
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