Ms Rowland revealed legislation will be introduced by the end of 2024 and stressed the importance of the federal government collaborating with the states and territories.
“There is intense debate in the community at the moment about what that age should be,” Ms Rowland told Sky News Australia. “What we are seeking to do … is examine that range around 13 to 16 … we know that it is within that age range that the particular harms can manifest themselves and we have evidence of that from a wide range of health sources.
“We will introduce legislation before the end of the year but within the architecture we’ve got of the Online Safety Act at the moment, there are a number of ways in which this can be implemented.“The reason why we are doing this is to protect children … if we need to take on big tech during it then absolutely. The government is committed to doing that.”