Regulatory guidance for the online industry, setting out reasonable steps to comply with Australia’s Social Media Minimum Age obligation, due to take effect on 10 December 2025. The guidance provides information for age-restricted social media platforms to ensure they have appropriate measures in place to prevent Australian children under 16 from holding accounts on their services. 

The guidance provides an explanation of guiding principles before setting out guidelines for industry on reasonable steps to comply with the Social Media Minimum Age obligation. It outlines how platforms can meet their obligations through deploying age assurance technologies, improved reporting pathways and clear communication with users. It also sets expectations for ongoing monitoring, transparency and fairness in relation to how platforms detect and deactivate underage accounts. 

Key expectations

• Detecting and deactivating or removing existing underage accounts with care and clear communication.
• Preventing re-registration or circumvention by underage users whose accounts have been deactivated or removed.
• Taking a layered approach to age assurance to minimise end-user friction, minimise the risk of error rates and provide user choice.
• Avoiding reliance on self-declaration alone, which is not considered sufficient to meet the legal obligation.
• Continuously monitoring and improving systems to track effectiveness, improve measures over time and provide the public and regulator transparent information about age assurance practices.