The final report on Australia’s online safety laws has been handed to federal government for consideration.
Announced in November 2023 and led this year by former deputy ACCC commissioner Delia Rickard, the review examined whether the laws needed updating due to new forms of online abuse and emerging technologies such as GenAI.
Rickard was supported in the review by staff from the Department of Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Development, Communications and the Arts.
The review looked at the effectiveness of the Online Safety Act 2021 and considered whether additional protections were needed with respect to a range of issues including hate speech, deepfakes, cyber-bullying, pile-on attacks and non-consensual sharing of intimate material.
It also considered whether existing penalties needed to be toughened up to ensure compliance.
As part of the review, a public submissions process was conducted in April this year, which attracted more than 2,200 responses.
Rickard and the team also met with more than 100 stakeholders including representatives from Australian and international government agencies, community and civil groups, and law enforcement bodies.
The review was fast-tracked by one year to ensure the current framework was still fit-for-purpose and that the e-Safety Commissioner remained appropriately empowered.
“Keeping Australians safe online is a key focus of the Albanese government,” minister for communications Michelle Rowland said. “That’s why we brought forward the commencement of the review by a full 12 months. It was clear our laws needed to keep pace with emerging technologies and their associated harms.”
The government will consider the review’s recommendations in due course. “I look forward to carefully considering the findings of the review and will have more to say on these recommendations shortly,” Rowland said.
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