Labor’s age assurance trial yet to start assessing technologies four months after announcement

The most important element of Labor’s trial of age verification for online pornography and social media announced four months ago has not yet started and no finish date has been set.

EXCLUSIVE

The most important element of Labor’s trial of age verification for online pornography and social media announced four months ago has not yet started and no finish date has been set, amid a warning every day of delay means “millions of children” exposed to harmful content.

Safety advocates fear “bureaucratic delays and obstacles” are derailing the federal government’s promised urgent action on the issue, and have criticised Labor’s inability to confirm if the results of the trial would be made public.

Labor allocated $6.5 million in the 2024-25 budget for a pilot of online age “assurance” technologies, which was announced by Anthony Albanese on May 1 following an emergency national cabinet meeting called in response to the nation’s domestic and family violence crisis.

The Prime Minister said at the time the pilot would “identify available age assurance products and assess their efficacy, including in relation to privacy and security”.

But it can be revealed the of the three components of the trial, only the two research elements – studying Australians’ “willingness” to use age assurance technologies and “targeted” consultation with stakeholders like parent groups and tech platforms – have started.

Communications Minister Michelle Rowland announced the trial with Prime Minister Anthony Albanese in May. Picture: NewsWire / Martin Ollman

The third and most crucial element – an assessment of available age assurance technologies – has not begun, with a tender seeking a third party to conduct this part of the trial due to conduct this due to be advertised in the “coming weeks”.

A spokesman for Communications Minister Michelle Rowland said the exact timing of the pilot’s completion would be “determined by the technology assessment and other procurements”.

Asked if the results would be made public, he said “announcing outcomes from the trial is a matter for the government”.

Melinda Tankard Reist says it’s disappointing the trial has no start or finish date. Picture: NCA Newswire/Gary Ramage

Collective Shout movement director Melinda Tankard Reist, who has been campaigning for age verification for online pornography for years said it was “very disappointing” to learn the pilot was going so slowly.

“Every day of delay, millions more children are exposed (to online porn), which means more harm to the developing sexual templates of children,” she said.

Ms Tankard Reist said the research elements of Labor’s trial were essentially redundant as that work had already been conducted by the eSafety Commission before it recommended the pilot.

Coalition communications spokesman David Coleman says the trial progress has been ‘excruciatingly slow’. Picture: NewsWire / Damian Shaw

“We’ve been saying from the start we need a start and a finish time, we need to know who’s going to evaluate the results … but this just sounds like inordinate delay,” she said.

Coalition communications spokesman David Coleman said protecting children from social media was one of the “defining issues of our era” and required “strong action”.

“But when action is needed, the government is just drowning in excruciatingly slow bureaucracy,” he said.

“It’s impossible to understand how – four months after announcing the trial – the government hasn’t even taken the first step to start it.

“The PM has said he supports age limits for social media, and he needs to demonstrate that through concrete action.”