29 Oct What is Australia’s proposed Digital Duty of Care — and what could it mean for families?
You may have heard the term “Digital Duty of Care” in the news, but what does it actually mean? In simple terms, the Australian Government wants online companies to take more responsibility for preventing foreseeable harm — rather than leaving children, parents and teachers to manage online safety largely on their own.
The proposed laws would require online services to identify risks associated with their products and take reasonable steps to reduce them.
That could include risks linked to grooming and exploitation, pornography, bullying and harassment, disordered-eating content, scams, unwanted contact and other harmful online experiences.
The important difference is that the proposal is not just about removing harmful posts after they appear. It is also about the way online products are designed — including privacy settings, recommender systems, tracking, geolocation and features that encourage users to keep scrolling, spending or sharing information.
In other words, the idea is to make safety part of the design of digital services from the beginning.
Why does design matter?
Anyone who has watched one short video and then found their feed filled with similar material has seen how strongly algorithms can shape an online experience.
Under a separate feature included in the Government’s draft proposals, Australians would also be given greater choice over whether their social media feed contains algorithmically recommended material or primarily content from accounts they have chosen to follow.
For younger users, the broader aim is to encourage companies to consider safety when services and features are being designed, rather than relying solely on warnings, reporting buttons and parental controls afterwards.
“Just as cars, toys, electrical products and food are expected to be safe before they reach consumers, digital products and services should meet the same standard,” Davies says.
Does this replace parental controls?
No.
Parents will still need to talk with children about privacy, inappropriate contact, scams and what to do when something online worries them. Age restrictions, privacy settings and supervision will remain important.
A Digital Duty of Care would instead add another layer of responsibility: asking companies to consider whether the products they build expose users to predictable risks.
The proposal is still being developed and may change before legislation reaches Parliament. Questions are also being raised about how harmful material will be defined and how the new powers will operate, making parliamentary scrutiny important.
The Alannah & Madeline Foundation is also calling for children and young people to be consulted as the laws develop.
“They are the ones living with the consequences of these platforms every day,” Davies says.
For parents, perhaps the most significant shift is a simple one: online safety would no longer be treated solely as something families have to manage themselves.
Alannah & Madeline Foundation’s mission continues today through our Care, Prevention and Advocacy programs – we fight for childrens right to be safe, so their future is strong. www.alannahandmadeline.org.au
