Government response to the Roadmap
for Age Verification
August 2023

Introduction
This is the Australian Government’s response to the Roadmap for Age Verification (the Roadmap),
which was developed by the eSafety Commissioner (eSafety) and delivered to Government on
31 March 2023.
The Roadmap acquits a key recommendation in the February 2020 House of Representatives
Standing Committee on Social Policy and Legal Affairs (the Committee) report, Protecting the Age of
Innocence (the report), which recommended that the Australian Government direct and adequately
resource the eSafety Commissioner to expeditiously develop and publish a roadmap for the
implementation of a regime of mandatory age verification for online pornographic material. The
Government response to the report, released in June 2021, supported the recommendation andnoted that the Roadmap would be based on ‘detailed research as to if and how a mandatory age
verification mechanism or similar could practically be achieved in Australia’.
The Roadmap makes a number of recommendations for Government, reflecting the multifaceted
response needed to address the harms associated with Australian children accessing pornography.
This Government response addresses these recommendations, sets out the Government’s responseto this issue more broadly and outlines where work is already underway. This includes work being
undertaken by eSafety under the Online Safety Act 2021, noting that since the Roadmap was firstrecommended in February 2020, the Australian Government has delivered major regulatory reform
to our online safety framework with the passage of the Online Safety Bill on 23 July 2021 withbipartisan support, and the commencement of the Online Safety Act on 23 January 2022.
The Online Safety Act sets out a world-leading framework comprising complaints-based schemes to
respond to individual pieces of content, mechanisms to require increased transparency aroundindustry’s efforts to support user safety, and mandatory and enforceable industry codes to establish
a baseline for what the digital industry needs to do to address restricted and seriously harmful
content and activity, including online pornography.

The Roadmap highlights concerning evidence about children’s widespread access to online pornography

The Roadmap highlights concerning evidence about children’s widespread
access to online pornography
Pornography is legal in Australia and is regulated under the Online Safety Act. Research shows thatmost Australian adults have accessed online pornography, with a 2020 survey by the CSIRO findingthat 60 per cent of adults had viewed pornography.
However, pornography is harmful to children who are not equipped to understand its contents andcontext, and they should be protected from exposure to it online. Concerningly, a 2017 survey by theAustralian Institute of Family Studies found that 44 per cent of children between the ages of 9-16
were exposed to sexual images within the previous month.
The Roadmap highlights findings from eSafety’s research with 16-18-year-olds, revealing that ofthose who had seen online pornography (75% of participants), almost half had first encountered it
when they were 13, 14, or 15 years old. Places where they encountered this content varied from
pornography websites (70%), social media feeds (35%), ads on social media (28%), social media
messages (22%), group chats (17%), and social media private group/pages (17%). The Roadmap
acknowledges that pornography is readily available through websites hosted offshore and also
through a wide range of digital platforms accessed by children.
The Roadmap finds an association between mainstream pornography and attitudes and behaviours
which can contribute to gender-based violence. It identifies further potential harms including
connections between online pornography and harmful sexual behaviours, and risky or unsafe sexual
behaviours.

The Roadmap finds age assurance technologies are immature, andpresent privacy, security, implementation and enforcement risks‘Age verification’ describes measures which could determine a person’s age to a high level ofaccuracy, such as by using official government identity documents. However, the Roadmap examines
the use of broader ‘age assurance’ technologies which include measures that perform ‘age
estimation’ functions. The Roadmap notes action already underway by industry to introduce andimprove age assurance and finds that the market for age assurance products is immature, butdeveloping.
It is clear from the Roadmap that at present, each type of age verification or age assurance
technology comes with its own privacy, security, effectiveness and implementation issues.
For age assurance to be effective, it must:•••

work reliably without circumvention;
be comprehensively implemented, including where pornography is hosted outside ofAustralia’s jurisdiction; andbalance privacy and security, without introducing risks to the personal information of
adults who choose to access legal pornography.

Age assurance technologies cannot yet meet all these requirements. While industry is taking steps tofurther develop these technologies, the Roadmap finds that the age assurance market is, at thistime, immature.
The Roadmap makes clear that a decision to mandate age assurance is not ready to be taken.

Government response to the Roadmap for Age Verification2

Government will require new industry codes to protect children

Without the technology to support mandatory age verification being available in the near term, theGovernment will require industry to do more and will hold them to account. The AustralianGovernment has always made clear that industry holds primary responsibility for the safety ofAustralian users on their services. It is unacceptable for services used by children to lack appropriate
safeguards to keep them safe. While many platforms are taking active steps to protect children,
including through the adoption of age assurance mechanisms, more can and should be done. The
Government is committed to ensuring industry delivers on its responsibility of keeping Australians,
particularly children, safe on their platforms.

Government will require new industry codes to protect children
The effective implementation of the Online Safety Act is a priority of the Albanese Government,
including the creation of new and strengthened industry codes to keep Australians safe online. The
industry codes outline steps the online industry must take to limit access or exposure to, anddistribution and storage of certain types of harmful online content. The eSafety Commissioner canmove to an enforceable industry standard if the codes developed by industry do not provide
appropriate community safeguards.
The codes are being developed in two phases, the first phase addressing ‘class 1’ content, which iscontent that would likely be refused classification in Australia and includes terrorism and child sexual
exploitation material. The second phase of the industry codes will address ‘class 2’ content, which iscontent that is legal but not appropriate for children, such as pornography.
The codes and standards can apply to eight key sections of the online industry, which are set out in
the Online Safety Act:
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social media services (e.g. Facebook, Instagram and TikTok);
relevant electronic services (e.g. services used for messaging, email, video communications,and online gaming services, including Gmail and WhatsApp);
designated internet services (e.g. websites and end-user online storage and sharing services
including Dropbox and Google Drive);internet search engine services (e.g. Google Search and Microsoft Bing);
app distribution services used to download apps (e.g. Apple IOS and Google Play stores);hosting services (e.g. Amazon Web Services and NetDC);
internet carriage services (e.g. Telstra, iiNet, Optus, TPG Telecom and Aussie Broadband); andmanufacturers and suppliers of any equipment that connects to the internet, and those who
maintain and install it (e.g. of modems, smart televisions, phones, tablets, smart homedevices, e-readers etc).

Phase 1Work on the first phase of codes commenced in early 2022, and on 11 April 2022 eSafety issued
notices formally requesting the development of industry codes to address class 1 material. On 1 June
2023, the eSafety Commissioner agreed to register five of the eight codes that were drafted byindustry. The eSafety Commissioner assessed these codes and found that they provide appropriate
community safeguards in relation to creating and maintaining a safe online environment for endusers, empowering people to manage access and exposure to class 1 material and strengthentransparency of and accountability for class 1 material.
The steps that industry must take under these codes include, for example:

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Government will require new industry codes to protect children•

requirement for providers under the Social Media Services Code, including Meta, TikTok andTwitter, to remove child sexual exploitation material and pro-terror material within 24 hoursof it being identified and take enforcement action against those distributing such material,
including terminating accounts and preventing the creation of further accounts; andrequirement for providers under the Internet Carriage Service Providers Code, including
Telstra, iiNet and Optus, to ensure Australian end-users are advised on how to limit access toclass 1 material by providing easily accessible information available on filtering products,
including through the Family Friendly Filter program, at or close to the time of sale.

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These registered codes will become enforceable by eSafety when they come into effect on
16 December 2023.
The eSafety Commissioner requested that industry revise the code for Search Engine Services, toensure it accounts for recent developments in the adoption of generative AI, and made the decision
not to register the Relevant Electronic Services Code and Designated Internet Services Code. The
eSafety Commissioner found that these two codes failed to provide appropriate community
safeguards in relation to matters that are of substantial relevance to the community. For these
sections of industry, eSafety will now move to develop mandatory and enforceable industry
standards.
The registered codes, including all of the steps industry are now required to take, are available at
eSafety’s website: www.esafety.gov.au/industry/codes/register-online-industry-codes-standards.
Phase 2The next phase of the industry codes process will address ‘class 2’ content, which is content that islegal, but not appropriate for children, such as pornography.
In terms of the content of the code – which will be subject to a code development process – Section
138(3) of the Online Safety Act 2021 outlines examples of matters that may be dealt with by industry
codes and industry standards, and includes:
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procedures directed towards the achievement of the objective of ensuring that online
accounts are not provided to children without the consent of a parent or responsible adult;
procedures directed towards the achievement of the objective of ensuring that customers
have the option of subscribing to a filtered internet carriage service;giving end‑users information about the availability, use and appropriate application of
online content filtering software;
providing end‑users with access to technological solutions to help them limit access to class
1 material and class 2 material;
providing end‑users with advice on how to limit access to class 1 material and class 2
material;
action to be taken to assist in the development and implementation of online content
filtering technologies; andgiving parents and responsible adults information about how to supervise and control
children’s access to material.

In light of the importance of this work, the Minister for Communications has written to the eSafety
Commissioner asking that work on the second tranche of codes commence as soon as practicable,
following the completion of the first tranche of codes.
The Government notes the Roadmap recommends a pilot of age assurance technologies. Given the
anticipated scope of the class 2 industry codes, this process will inform any future Government
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Government will lift industry transparency

decisions related to a pilot of age assurance technologies. The Government will await the outcomesof the class 2 industry codes process before deciding on a potential trial of age assurance
technologies.

Government will lift industry transparency
The Government also notes that the Online Safety Act 2021 sets out Basic Online Safety Expectations(BOSE) for the digital industry and empowers the eSafety Commissioner to require industry to reporton what it is doing to address these expectations.
A core expectation, set out in section 46(1)(d) of the Online Safety Act 2021, is that providers ‘…willtake reasonable steps to ensure that technological and other measures are in effect to prevent accessby children to class 2 material provided on the service’. The Online Safety (Basic Online Safety
Expectations) Determination 2022 also provides examples of ‘reasonable steps’ that industry could
take to meet this expectation, which includes ‘implementing age assurance mechanisms.’
The Commissioner is able to require online services to report on how they are meeting the BOSE.
Noting the independence of the eSafety Commissioner’s regulatory decision-making processes, theGovernment would welcome the further use of these powers and the transparency that they bringto industry efforts to improve safety for Australians, and to measure the effectiveness of industry
codes.

Government will ensure regulatory frameworks remain fit-for-purpose
The Government has committed to bring forward the independent statutory review of the Online
Safety Act, which will be completed in this term of government. With the online environment
constantly changing, an early review will ensure Australia’s legislative framework remains responsive
to online harms and that the eSafety Commissioner can continue to keep Australians safe fromharm.
The review of the Privacy Act 1988 (Privacy Act Review) also considered children’s particularvulnerability to online harms, and the Privacy Act Review Report made several proposals to increaseprivacy protections for children online. The Government is developing the response to the Report,
which will set out the pathway for reforms.
The Privacy Act Review Report proposes enshrining a principle that recognises the best interests ofthe child and recommends the introduction of a Children’s Online Privacy Code modelled on the
United Kingdom’s Age Appropriate Design Code. It is recommended that a Children’s Online Privacy
Code apply to online services that are likely to be accessed by children. The requirements of thecode would assist entities by clarifying the principles-based requirements of the Privacy Act in moreprescriptive terms and provide guidance on how the best interests of the child should be upheld in
the design of online services. For example, assessing a child’s capacity to consent, limiting certain
collections, uses and disclosures of children’s personal information, default privacy settings, enablingchildren to exercise privacy rights, and balancing parental controls with a child’s right to autonomy
and privacy.
The requirements of the Code could also address whether entities need to take reasonable steps toestablish an individual’s age with a level of certainty that is appropriate to the risks, for example byimplementing age assurance mechanisms.

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More support and resources for families

More support and resources for families
While the Government and our online safety regulator will continue working with industry on thischallenge, tools are already available to prevent children accessing pornography online.
The Government supports the eSafety Commissioner’s work in developing practical advice forparents, carers, educators and the community about safety technologies. These products include
online resources such as fact sheets, advice and referral information, and regular interactive
webinars. These resources are freely available through the eSafety Commissioner’s website at:www.eSafety.gov.au.
The Roadmap proposes the establishment of an Online Safety Tech Centre to support parents, carers
and others to understand and apply safety technologies that work best for them. The Government
has sought further advice from the eSafety Commissioner about this proposal to inform further
consideration.
The Roadmap also recommends that the Government:••

fund eSafety to develop new, evidence-based resources about online pornography foreducators, parents and children; anddevelop industry guidance products and further work to identify barriers to the uptake ofsafety technologies such as internet filters and parental controls.

The Government supports these recommendations. In the 2023-24 Budget the Government
provided eSafety with an additional $132.1 million over four years to improve online safety,
increasing base funding from $10.3 million to $42.5 million per year. This ongoing and indexed
funding provides Australia’s online safety regulator with funding certainty, allowing long term
operational planning, more resourcing for its regulatory processes, and to increase education andoutreach.
The eSafety Commissioner works closely with Communications Alliance – an industry body
representing the communications sector – to provide the Family Friendly Filter program. Under thisprogram, internet filtering products undergo rigorous independent testing for effectiveness, ease ofuse, configurability and availability of support prior to certification as a Family Friendly Filter. Filter
providers must also agree to update their products as required by eSafety, for example where
eSafety determines, following a complaint, that a specified site is prohibited under Australian law.
Communications Alliance maintains a list and access details of certified filters at:www.commsalliance.com.au/Activities/ispi/fff.

Addressing the harms that can result from children’s exposure topornography
The Roadmap notes that age-appropriate, inclusive, evidence-based, and stigma-free education
about online safety, sexuality, consent, and respectful relationships are integral to addressing theharms associated with online pornography.
The Roadmap recommends development of a mechanism for greater national coordination andcollaboration of respectful relationship education. The Australian Government supports thisrecommendation. Through the Consent and Respectful Relationships Education (CRRE) commitmentof $83.5 million over 6 years (2022-23 to 2027-28), the Australian Government is working withstates, territories, the non-government school sector and experts through a National Respectful
Relationships Education Expert Working Group (Expert Group) to support the delivery of ageGovernment response to the Roadmap for Age Verification

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Addressing the harms that can result from children’s exposure to pornography

appropriate, evidence-based, and expert-developed respectful relationships education, aligned to
the Australian Curriculum. The Expert Group will also provide guidance on a rapid review on thedelivery of CRRE, identifying gaps and opportunities, and also support the development of a nationalframework to guide schools in delivering high quality CRRE.
The Government is also committed to coordination and collaboration through the National Plan to
End Violence against Women and Children 2022-2032 (the National Plan). The National Planacknowledges that the relationship between viewing pornographic content and violence iscomplicated. It notes that pornographic content that showcases violence and a lack of consent,
could be linked to a young person’s attitudes and beliefs about sex, intimacy, consent, and genderroles in relationships. The Commonwealth and all states and territories - along with victim-survivors,
experts, frontline services and other stakeholders – have contributed to the National Plan, which
provides the blueprint to end gender-based violence in a generation.
Initiatives under the National Plan
In its last two Budgets, the Australian Government has made a $2.3 billion investment in women’ssafety including to support implementation of the National Plan. This includes committing$39.9 million to develop a new national prevention campaign on consent and respectful
relationships. The consent campaign aims to prevent sexual violence by supporting adults with
influence on young people to help them to develop positive attitudes and behaviours aroundconsent. The first phase is expected to encourage adults to have conversations on consent andhealthy relationships with each other, followed by sharing this understanding with young people(phase 2). This campaign is under development and is subject to Government approvals.
The Government also committed $3.5 million under the National Plan to support Teach Us Consent
to curate, develop and distribute social media resources on consent for young people aged 16 andover, and develop a youth advisory group. The program is expected to improve the attitudes andunderstanding of young people about consent, their capacity to have conversations about consent,
and ultimately, to reduce sexual violence. The youth-led expert advisory group is expected toprovide advice about what works when engaging young people on consent and sexual violence
prevention.
Further, the 2022-23 Budget included $100.4 million over 5 years (GST exclusive) to continue
supporting Our Watch to deliver on key priorities of the National Plan, and continue existing
successful initiatives for the primary prevention of violence against women and children. Throughthe Primary Prevention Activities program, Our Watch is funded to deliver The Line - a primaryprevention social marketing campaign, designed to encourage adolescents and young adults aged 14
plus years to engage with age appropriate and evidence based information that educateson: consent; dating; respectful relationships; masculinity; sex; emotions; and pornography. The Linealso provides resources for Educators and practitioners and parents and carers.
In addition, under the National Plan, the Government has funded eSafety:•••$10.0 million for the Preventing Tech-Based Abuse of Women Grants Program to develop
primary prevention initiatives that address the drivers of technology-facilitated gender-based
violence;$16.6 million to develop a Technology-Facilitated Abuse Support Service for victim-survivors
and their frontline service staff;
to deliver training and capacity building of frontline workers and other key cohorts torecognise and respond to technology-facilitated family, domestic and sexual violence;

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Investing in research and building the evidence base••to deliver the eSafety Kids and TFA Program to raise awareness about how technologyfacilitated abuse affects young people; andto work in formal partnership with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples to ensure
policies and services are culturally competent, strengths-based and trauma informed andmeet the needs of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples and communities.

Investing in research and building the evidence base
The Roadmap notes that the evidence around the potential impacts of online pornography on
children is complex and conflicting, and recommends that the Government conduct new andspecialist research in this area. This includes looking at the attitudes towards and impacts of online
pornography on at-risk groups, particularly those who are underrepresented in the existing
literature.
The Government supports this recommendation. Australia’s National Research Organisation for
Women’s Safety (ANROWS) was established as an initiative of Australia’s first National Plan to
Reduce Violence Against Women and their Children 2010-2022, and their primary function is to build
the evidence base that supports ending violence against women and children in Australia. The
October 2022-23 Women’s Safety Budget confirmed funding of $23.3 million over 5 years from2022-23 for the ANROWS National Priority Research Fund. ANROWS has identified three researchstreams for the National Priority Research Fund: perpetration, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander
people, and Sexual Violence in Australia. This additional funding will:
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increase understanding of and responses to address the unique, intersecting and lifelong
impacts of violence against certain communities, including Aboriginal and Torres Strait
Islander peoples and the LGBTIQA+ community;
build knowledge and understanding of the factors correlated with men perpetrating violence,
including the role of their own lived experience of violence and trauma;
recognise and address the patterns of behaviour that constitute coercive control, including
through increased understandings of non-physical forms of violence and abuse, such as
psychological abuse, technology-facilitated and financial abuse; andbring sexual violence out of the shadows by recognising barriers to reporting andacknowledging sexual violence as a standalone issue that occurs beyond intimate partner
violence.

Working with counterparts
As technology advances, age assurance or verification processes that could be effectively
implemented while preserving Australians’ privacy and security, may emerge. The Roadmap
describes how some online services are now trialing or introducing age assurance measures. A
number of overseas governments, including of France, Germany, the UK, Utah and Louisiana, areconsidering or implementing age assurance requirements, and intergovernmental collaborative
networks and accreditation frameworks are being developed.
In particular, the UK is a key likeminded partner in which Australia is continuing to deepen its
engagement with across a range of strategic online safety and security matters. Both Australia andthe UK are well-placed to shape and promote harmonious and globally-applicable principles andapproaches in regards to age assurance technologies, age-appropriate design, and safety by designprinciples and practices.
The Government will continue to monitor the implementation and effectiveness of global andindustry developments to inform our efforts in the future, and it is anticipated they will be
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Conclusionconsidered as part of the statutory review of the Online Safety Act, which is expected to commencein 2024.

Conclusion
The first duty of any Government is to protect its citizens from harm – a duty that also applies to theonline world. In the modern digital environment where children are growing up with close access totechnology, protecting them from exposure to online pornography is a complex task. Protections
must be proportionate to the level of harm and respect the rights of citizens to privacy and security.
Protections must also be effective and enforceable.
Australia has a strong track record in measured, targeted action in response to online harms which
has included the establishment of the world’s first eSafety Commissioner and legislating dedicatedschemes to protect Australians from a range of online harms. The Australian Government is focusedon the ongoing work needed to successfully implement the Online Safety Act, in particular the muchneeded ‘step up’ by the digital industry to protect Australian children from exposure to online
pornography. The Government will continue to monitor these efforts closely.
The Government also takes seriously the need to address the drivers of gender-based and sexual
violence. Under the National Plan, we are working with all state and territory governments,
businesses and workplaces, media, schools and educational institutions, the family, domestic andsexual violence sector, communities and individuals, to achieve the shared vision of ending genderbased violence in one generation.
The Government thanks the eSafety Commissioner and all those who have contributed to theRoadmap for Age Verification.

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