Prime Minister Anthony Albanese calls on states to put forward age limit of social media ban

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has signalled the next step in the government’s bid to introduce an age limit on social media use.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has called on state premiers and territory chief ministers to share their preferred age limit as the federal government firms up its plan for setting a strict age limit on accessing social media.

States and territories have differed on the minimum age for social media, with leaders flagging ideal limits between 14 to 16 years of age.

Mr Albanese has asked premiers and chief ministers to provide evidence around their preferred cut off, whether there should be exemptions, and how the limits could impact states that have implemented a phone ban.

Leaders will also be asked about their thoughts on grandfathering arrangements for current accounts, as well as the role of parental consent in establishing the age limits.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has promised to introduce the laws into parliament by the end of the year. Picture: NewsWire/ Nikki Short

States and territories will need to explain how they plan on implementing wraparound measures to support young people, including impacts of withdrawal, creating alternate ways of social connection and community, as well as support for vulnerable groups like rural or remote teens, LGBTQI+ communities and Indigenous groups.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has announced the government would be introducing the ban by the end of 2024.

He said he wanted to see children off their phones and “having real experiences with real people”.

“We know social media is doing social harm. We need to do everything we can to keep our kids safe and to help them grow up happy, healthy, and confident,” he said.

“Legislating a minimum age for social media access is about protecting young people, not punishing or isolating them.

“Protecting children from harm is a shared responsibility across all governments, as well as industry, civil society and communities.”

Prior to Labor’s proposed ban, opposition leader Peter Dutton made an election promise to restrict teenagers under 16 from using social media within the first 100 days of the Coalition coming into government.

Mr Albanese said he wanted to see children off their phones and having “real experiences” with “real people”. Picture: David Geraghty/ NewsWire

NSW Premier Chris Minns has backed an age limit of at least 16, however Victoria Premier Jacinta Allan and South Australian Premier Peter Malinauskas have favoured a stricter limit of 14 years of age.

Other jurisdictions have supported national measures to lead the ban, without electing an age cut off.

On Friday, the NSW government released a statewide survey taken by 21,000 people, 87 per cent of whom supported age limits for social media use.

In the survey, 16 years old was the most commonly suggested age.

It found teenagers between 16 to 17 years of age averaged more than three hours of social media use a day, with 70 per cent of children aged between 10 to 12 already using platforms like Facebook, Instagram and TikTok.

The survey comes ahead of the state’s joint two-day Social Media Summit with the South Australian government slated for October 10 and 11.