Australia Online Safety Act 2021

Implement age assurance measures to prevent children under 16 from accessing social media and to restrict access to age-restricted content

Online Safety Act 2021 (Cth), Part 4A, ss 63C-63D, 63DA-63DB - Social media minimum age: reasonable steps to prevent under-16s having accounts; information that must not be collected · Read the full page →

WITHDRAWN ATTRIBUTION — not a verified statutory duty. BOSE s 14 is terms of use and enforcement and Act s 45(3) is the Minister's power to determine expectations for designated internet services; the Determination does not cover app distribution services at all (BOSE s 5), and nothing in either instrument requires app stores to carry accurate age ratings or enforce age-based access (legislation.gov.au compilations retrieved 2026-09-21). The Act's app-store provision is the s 128 app removal notice; any age-rating requirement is a matter for the registered industry codes for app distribution services, which were not retrieved.

BOSE Determination 2022, s 14; Online Safety Act 2021, s 45(3) — withdrawn attribution (no age-rating duty in either instrument) · Read the full page →

Ensure generative AI features are designed and operated with user safety, particularly children's safety, as a primary consideration

BOSE Determination 2022, s 8A - Generative artificial intelligence capabilities (additional expectations) · Read the full page →

Make the best interests of children a primary consideration in service design, development, and operation

BOSE Determination 2022, s 6(2A) - Best interests of the child a primary consideration (additional expectation) · Read the full page →

Proactively detect, remove, and report child sexual abuse material (CSAM) using industry best-practice technologies

BOSE Determination 2022, s 11(d) - Minimise class 1 material (including child sexual abuse material); Criminal Code (Cth) s 474.25 referral to the AFP · Read the full page →

Provide accessible, timely, and transparent reporting and complaints mechanisms for harmful and illegal content

BOSE Determination 2022, ss 13, 14(3)-(5), 16 and 19 - Report and complaint mechanisms, review and response, complaining to the Commissioner, records for 5 years · Read the full page →

Take reasonable steps to ensure users can use the service in a safe online environment, with particular attention to children's safety

BOSE Determination 2022, s 6(1)-(3) - Safe use: core and additional expectations, with examples of reasonable steps · Read the full page →

Comply with the cyberbullying removal scheme by removing cyberbullying material within 24 hours of an eSafety Commissioner removal notice

Online Safety Act 2021 (Cth), Part 5 - Cyber-bullying material targeted at an Australian child: s 6 (definition), s 65 (removal notice to the provider), s 70 (end-user notice) · Read the full page →

Keep records of reports and complaints about the BOSE s 13 material for 5 years and be able to produce complaint, removal-notice and safety-measure information to the Commissioner within 30 days

BOSE Determination 2022, s 19 - Records of reports and complaints kept for 5 years; s 20 and Act ss 46(1)(g)-(i), 49-50 - producing information to the Commissioner · Read the full page →

Ensure child safety measures remain effective even where end-to-end encryption is deployed

BOSE Determination 2022, s 8 - Encrypted services: reasonable steps to detect and address unlawful or harmful material, without weakening encryption · Read the full page →

Comply with the image-based abuse scheme by removing non-consensual intimate images within 24 hours of a removal notice

Online Safety Act 2021 (Cth), Part 6 - Non-consensual sharing of intimate images: ss 15-16 (definitions), s 75 (posting an intimate image), s 77 (removal notice to the provider) · Read the full page →

Comply with registered industry codes and mandatory industry standards determined by the eSafety Commissioner

Online Safety Act 2021 (Cth), Part 9, Division 7 (ss 134-150) - Industry codes and industry standards · Read the full page →

Remove Class 1 (refused classification) material and restrict children's access to Class 2 (restricted) material

Online Safety Act 2021 (Cth), Part 9 - Online content scheme: ss 106-107 (class 1 and class 2 material), s 109 (removal notice, class 1), s 119 (remedial notice, class 2), s 108 (restricted access system); BOSE s 12 (class 2 access expectation) · Read the full page →

Implement a restricted access system with age verification to prevent children from accessing age-inappropriate content

Online Safety Act 2021 (Cth), s 108 - Restricted access system (declared by the Commissioner); s 119 - Remedial notice: remove or restrict access; BOSE s 12 - Prevent children's access to class 2 material · Read the full page →

Conduct regular risk assessments for child safety harms and implement proportionate mitigation measures

BOSE Determination 2022, ss 6(3)(e), 12(2)(b), 8A(3)(a), 8B(3)(a) - Child safety risk assessments as examples of reasonable steps · Read the full page →

Incorporate eSafety Commissioner Safety by Design principles across the full product lifecycle

BOSE Determination 2022, ss 6(3)(e) and 7(2) - Lifecycle safety risk assessment; regard to the Commissioner's guidance (the Safety by Design framework) · Read the full page →

Services must remove seriously harmful content within 24 hours of receiving a removal notice from the eSafety Commissioner

Online Safety Act 2021 (Cth), s 109 - Removal notice for class 1 material given to the provider; BOSE s 21 - Designated contact point · Read the full page →

Maintain and actively enforce terms of service that prohibit harmful and illegal content, with consistent and transparent enforcement

BOSE Determination 2022, ss 14-15, 17-18 - Terms of use and safety policies, proactive detection of breaches, enforcement against all accounts, review and response, accessibility and updates · Read the full page →

Comply with eSafety Commissioner transparency reporting requirements including content moderation data and safety measure effectiveness

Online Safety Act 2021 (Cth), ss 49-50 - Periodic reporting notices on compliance with the expectations; s 46(1)(g)-(i) and BOSE s 20 - information requests; BOSE s 6(3)(j) - transparency reports · Read the full page →

Provide user empowerment tools and parental controls to help users and parents manage children's safety

BOSE Determination 2022, ss 6(3)(b), 6(5)-(6), 17(2)(b) - Most restrictive defaults for a children's service; user controls; information on parental control settings · Read the full page →