The Online Safety Act commenced in January 2022. It provides broad powers to the online safety regulator, the eSafety Commissioner.
In November 2023, the Minister for Communications the Hon Michelle Rowland MP announced a statutory review into the operation of the Act.
Digital Rights Watch has actively participated throughout the development of the Online Safety Act and its related parts, such as the Basic Online Safety Expectations and the online safety industry standards.
As always, we emphasise that privacy and digital security are essential to uphold safety.
Our recent submissions relevant to online safety in Australia include:
- Submission to the initial Online Safety Legislative Reform Consultation (February 2020)
- Submission on the proposed Online Safety Bill, (February 2021)
- Submission in response to the Restricted Access Systems discussion paper (September 2021) and draft declaration (November 2021)
- Submission on the draft Basic Online Safety Expectations (November 2021) and the later proposed amendments (March 2024)
- Submission to the Inquiry into Online Safety and Social Media (January 2022)
- Submission on the draft online safety Industry Codes (October 2022) and the subsequent draft Industry Standards (January 2024)