In September 2022, eSafety carried out mixed methods research into young people’s attitudes towards online pornography and age assurance. A key aim of the project was to explore young people's lived experiences with online pornography. The research was conducted from 19 to 21 September 2022 by means of a survey of 1,004 young people aged 16–18 and six focus groups with a total of 32 young people aged 16–18. It is part of a larger project in response to the Australian Government's request to eSafety to develop a proposed mandatory age verification regime for online pornography (the Age Verification Roadmap).

This is the first of two reports in eSafety’s Young People and Pornography research series. It starts by examining young people’s encounters with online pornography. It then explores young people’s perspectives on and attitudes towards online pornography, including what they consider helpful for reducing its negative impacts. This report contributes to a growing body of research into the prevalence of young people’s encounters with pornography, their perspectives on it and their support needs around it. The second report, examining findings about young people's attitudes towards age assurance, is available here.

Overall, the data indicates that online pornography is prevalent in the online lives of young people, with Australian young people encountering online pornography at high rates from a young age. The researchers found that many young people’s first encounters with online pornography are unintentional. However, throughout adolescence, they are seeing online pornography both unintentionally and intentionally via pornography websites, other unrelated websites, social media and communication from friends.