eSafety and the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner (OAIC) will work together under a new agreement to jointly ensure Australians’ privacy and safety online.
A Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) between the two regulators builds on existing collaboration, reflecting the imperative for coordinated regulatory responses to a growing number of issues where privacy and online safety intersect.
That includes age assurance requirements that are now mandatory under Australia’s online industry codes and standards – designed to protect children from abuse and harmful or age-inappropriate material – and ensuring age-restricted platforms comply with their Social Media Minimum Age obligations.
eSafety Commissioner Julie Inman Grant said the MOU would promote cohesive regulatory efforts to help keep Australians safe online, including formalising communication pathways between regulators on issues where privacy and online safety intersect.
“Both regulators have always recognised that combatting certain harms requires privacy and safety to go hand in hand. For example, at eSafety we knew from the outset our implementation of the Social Media Minimum Age would need to recognise important rights, including the right to privacy,” Ms Inman Grant said.
“Our commitment to continue working collaboratively with the OAIC gives formal recognition to that principle and sets out how we will balance and promote privacy and safety for everyone.
“It comes at an important time, when the proliferation of new technologies like artificial intelligence is amplifying risks and we are increasingly requiring industry to deploy age-assurance technologies that meet their regulatory obligations and respect privacy in the Australian context,” Ms Inman Grant said.
Australian Information Commissioner Elizabeth Tydd said the MOU will advance the work led by the Privacy Commissioner, Carly Kind and assist the OAIC in monitoring and responding to emerging online privacy risks, and to deliver on both agencies’ statutory functions as set out in the Online Safety Act.
“This Memorandum of Understanding is a testament to the power of collaboration between our two agencies,” Ms Tydd said.
“By sharing information and expertise, we amplify our ability to address privacy and safety challenges in the digital landscape.
“With this memorandum, we’re not only formalising cooperation, but building a foundation where privacy protections and online safety initiatives can better address specific harms side by side, ensuring Australians can be protected when interacting online.”