What we do

eSafety was established in 2015 as the Office of the Children’s eSafety Commissioner, with the focus on protecting young Australians from serious cyberbullying on social media sites and disrupting the online distribution of child sexual abuse material.

Since then, our mandate has expanded to include protections for a wide range of harms experienced by Australians of all ages, across many different types of digital services and platforms.

In 2021, the Australian Government streamlined online safety laws under the Online Safety Act (2021). In 2024 the Act was amended to include social media age restrictions. eSafety is responsible for the implementation and enforcement of the Act and its amendments.

We use our powers under the Act to encourage prevention, provide protection and drive proactive systemic change.

We achieve this through interconnected measures designed to reduce online risks, limit the impacts of online harms and keep online service providers accountable.

Prevention

eSafety helps people of all ages to understand how to use online services and platforms as safely as possible and get help if they are harmed.

We do this through:

• raising public awareness about online safety issues, how to prevent risks, how to deal with harms, and the best pathways to support
• empowering individuals and communities through training and education 
• producing free, evidence based, easy-to-use information and advice for general and diverse audiences

In addition, we provide basic digital literacy training and resources through the Be Connected program.

To support these activities, we conduct research into online experiences and attitudes, and evaluate the effectiveness of safety interventions. We also analyse new and emerging risks through our tech trends and challenges position statements. 

Protection

When prevention measures fail, eSafety provides a safety net for Australians harmed by serious online abuse or exposed to illegal and restricted content. We have legal powers to protect Australians across most online services and platforms, via our complaints reporting schemes. 

We investigate complaints and help to stop, remove and limit the impacts of cyberbullying of children, adult cyber abuse, image-based abuse (sharing or threatening to share intimate images and videos without the consent of the person shown), as well as illegal and restricted online content.  

Where appropriate, our investigators work with the online industry to resolve individual complaints. Where a collaborative approach is not appropriate or sufficient to protect Australians, we draw on our robust range of regulatory options.

Proactive and systemic change

A key element of the Act is the Basic Online Safety Expectations. These set out reasonable steps that the Australian Government expects online service providers to take to ensure Australians can use their platforms safely. By empowering eSafety to request or require information about how services are meeting the Expectations, the Act helps drive industry transparency and accountability.

Phase 1 Industry Codes and Standards regulate Class 1A and 1B material, covering the most seriously harmful online content, including material that shows sexual abuse of children and acts of terrorism. They contain enforceable obligations that apply to eight sections of the online industry.

Phase 2 industry codes are being developed by industry associations to prevent children and young people under 18 from accessing or being exposed to age-inappropriate material. This covers pornography and other high-impact material such as content with themes of suicide, self-harm and serious illness including eating disorders. The codes will also ensure all other users are able to choose whether they want to interact with this type of content online.

The phase 2 industry codes, due to be submitted to eSafety by 28 February 2025, must provide appropriate community safeguards for the Commissioner to register them, otherwise mandatory standards can be introduced by eSafety.

In addition, the Safety by Design initiative encourages services to embed user safety into their design from the start. By integrating safety features into technology, Safety by Design reinforces a proactive approach to user protection.

Mandatory age restrictions for certain social media services, due to take effect in 2025, will intersect with each of these activities. eSafety will take a coordinated approach to make sure they are mutually effective.

The proposed introduction of a Digital Duty of Care, as recommended in the statutory review of the Online Safety Act 2021 and announced by the Australian Government in 2024, would further place the onus on all digital platforms to proactively keep Australians safe and prevent online harms more effectively. 

Led by eSafety Commissioner Julie Inman Grant, our team includes investigators, lawyers, researchers, policy analysts, technology experts, educators, communications specialists and many other highly skilled people.

Together, we engage and consult with a wide range of stakeholders to inform eSafety’s strategy, programs and resources – including people with lived experience of online harms and those who support them.

We also collaborate with governments, organisations, advocates, community groups and tech industry representatives within Australia and around the world to guide regulatory policy and amplify the impact of our work.

By tapping into this diverse experience and knowledge, we continue to develop a deep understanding of the online threats we know and prepare for the ones we know are coming.

Our vision is simple: to help create a world where everyone can enjoy the benefits of digital technology and online spaces, free from harm.