Australia regulators unite on privacy & online safety

eSafety and the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner have signed a memorandum of understanding on online privacy and safety, formalising cooperation between the two regulators.

The agreement builds on existing work as the agencies address issues that span both privacy and online safety, including age-assurance rules under online industry codes and standards, and compliance by age-restricted platforms with Social Media Minimum Age obligations.

It is intended to support joint action as a growing number of policy and enforcement questions cut across both areas. Those questions include the use of age-assurance technologies designed to protect children from abuse and harmful or age-inappropriate material, while also respecting privacy rights.

Under the memorandum, the agencies will formalise communication pathways on matters where their remits overlap. The move comes as Australian regulators face increasing scrutiny over how digital platforms manage user safety, personal data and newer technologies such as artificial intelligence.

eSafety Commissioner Julie Inman Grant said the agreement would support a more consistent approach.

"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," 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."

Shared oversight

The Office of the Australian Information Commissioner oversees privacy regulation in Australia, while eSafety is responsible for a range of online harms and platform safety matters under the Online Safety Act. The agreement more explicitly links those responsibilities as digital regulation becomes more complex.

The agencies pointed in particular to work led by Privacy Commissioner Carly Kind within the OAIC, alongside the office's broader role in monitoring and responding to emerging privacy risks online. For eSafety, the agreement ties into its work on age-based protections and content standards for digital services.

The overlap has become more pronounced as platforms adopt systems to identify users' ages or restrict access to certain services. These systems can involve the collection, processing or verification of personal information, creating a direct intersection between privacy law and online safety rules.

Australian Information Commissioner Elizabeth Tydd said the agreement would strengthen joint work across the two bodies.

"This Memorandum of Understanding is a testament to the power of collaboration between our two agencies," 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."

The announcement highlights increasing regulatory focus on the design of child safety measures in digital services. Australian authorities have been working through how platform requirements to prevent harm, especially to children, can be enforced without creating unnecessary risks to users' personal information.

For both agencies, the memorandum provides a framework for handling those issues through closer information-sharing and coordination. It also signals that future regulatory responses in Australia are likely to involve more joint work where technology, safety and privacy concerns intersect.

The regulators described the agreement as a way to better align privacy protections and online safety measures in response to emerging digital harms.