To the Honourable President and members of the Senate in Parliament assembled:

We, the undersigned, call on the Australian Senate to urgently establish a Senate Inquiry into the upcoming age assurance requirements for social media access, set to be enforced by the eSafety Commissioner under the Online Safety Act from December 2025.

Promoted as a child protection measure, these requirements would compel all users - regardless of age - to verify their identity using technology such as digital IDs or facial scanning to access online platforms. The 2024 Senate Inquiry into the under-16 ban failed to examine the far-reaching legal and ethical implications of granting the eSafety Commissioner such sweeping regulatory powers.

This policy is no longer just about children’s safety. It represents a serious threat to privacy, freedom of expression, and democratic rights in Australia’s digital public square.

Under current proposals, the eSafety Commissioner will have the authority to determine acceptable forms of age assurance technology, compel compliance from platforms, and potentially oversee the rollout of biometric and identity-based verification systems at scale. Yet no parliamentary scrutiny has assessed the risks of centralising this power in an unelected agency - nor the broader societal consequences of mandating invasive technologies across the entire population.

Australians should not be forced to scan their faces, submit identity documents, or risk government surveillance just to use social media and the internet. The implied freedom of political communication, as recognised in Lange v ABC (1997), is clearly at stake. Mandatory identity checks discourage anonymous participation in public debate and chill lawful dissent, undermining the foundation of a democratic society.

The July 2025 Intelligence Oversight and Other Legislation Amendment (Integrity Measures) Bill further heightens concern. It expands the data access powers of intelligence and law enforcement agencies, making the mass collection of facial scans or digital ID information via age assurance schemes particularly dangerous in scope and potential misuse.

The Guardian (2025) has warned that these developments could “radically change the way we use the internet in Australia,” with implications extending well beyond children’s safety. The government’s age verification regime risks eroding privacy, restricting lawful content access, and undermining public trust in digital services:
Read the article here

Even more concerning, the eSafety Commissioner’s powers will allow the enforcement of a one-size-fits-all solution - despite clear indications that less invasive alternatives (such as age self-declaration with audits, parental controls, or device-level settings) could achieve the same child safety outcomes without violating the fundamental rights of all Australian citizens.

These measures may also place Australia in breach of its obligations under Article 19 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), which protects the right to seek, receive, and impart information. Any restriction on this right must be necessary, proportionate, and the least intrusive means available - criteria that biometric and identity-based verification systems simply do not meet.

Your petitioners ask that the Senate:

·         Launch an immediate inquiry into the legal, constitutional, and human rights implications of the age assurance frameworks being proposed by the eSafety Commissioner.

·         Assess the risks of centralised enforcement powers, including potential overreach, lack of transparency, and absence of democratic accountability.

·         Investigate viable, less invasive alternatives that protect children online while preserving Australians' rights to privacy, free speech, and anonymous participation.

·         Recommend a suspension or substantial revision of the current mandate to ensure that any regulatory measures align with constitutional protections and international law.

With implementation just months away, urgent scrutiny is essential. If left unchecked, this policy could fundamentally reshape Australians’ relationship with digital platforms and compromise our core democratic freedoms.

We MUST protect privacy, restore accountability, and defend the freedom to speak, connect, and participate online without being tracked, scanned, or silenced.