Full Breakdown
Australia’s New “Digital Duty of Care” Bill Targets Online Harms
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Core Provisions and Legislative Scope
Communications Minister Anika Wells has moved Labor’s digital duty of care bill into the House of Representatives. The amendment to the Online Safety Act obliges online service providers—including social-media platforms, websites, gaming services and messaging apps—to take “appropriate action” against seriously harmful material and conduct. The duty extends to protecting children from bullying, disordered-eating content, dangerous stunt encouragement and certain algorithmic design features. It also empowers the minister to require platforms to give users tools to manage content-recommendation designs, a move Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has framed as a “my feed, my way” approach giving Australians greater control over their feeds.
Background and Recent Tweaks
An exposure draft of the bill is slated for release on September 8, opening a two-week written-feedback period. The government has issued an explanatory memorandum that highlights algorithmic-design impacts. Recent revisions broaden the definition of harmful material for adults to include the encouragement or incitement of gender-based violence and non-consensual fake nude imagery. Conversely, the bill removes the duty for content that merely encourages illicit drug use and adds explicit exclusions for professional news, artistic, educational, scientific and public-health material.
Official Government Position
Minister Wells indicated that any future addition of harmful-material categories will require a parliamentary amendment rather than a ministerial instrument, shifting the power to Parliament. The government argues that the bill balances safety with freedom of expression by carving out exemptions for public-interest content and health-promotion material.
Next Steps
The bill is set to proceed to a Senate inquiry, with a report anticipated before the end of the year. The outcome will determine whether the proposed duties become enforceable law and how they will be refined in response to stakeholder feedback.