Albanese adds YouTube to social media ban for kids
The reversal, which was first reported by The Australian Financial Review last month, came after advice from eSafety Commissioner Julie Inman Grant, who found YouTube was the most widely used platform for young teens and the most likely place for them to encounter harmful material.
The law, which is being watched closely by other countries, comes into effect on December 10 and increases the minimum age to use platforms including TikTok, Instagram, Facebook, Snapchat and X to 16.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Perth Now
23 minutes ago
- Perth Now
Albo won't consult Trump on Palestine issue
Anthony Albanese has indicated he will not consult Donald Trump ahead of deciding whether Australia will stand with western allies to recognise Palestinian statehood. The decision could occur as soon as September when the Prime Minister attends the United Nations General Assembly, with the United Kingdom, France and Canada publicly stating their intention formally recognise Palestine there. Speaking from Melbourne, the Mr Albanese was asked whether he would 'talk to Donald Trump before (making) the decision about Palestinian recognition'. In response, Mr Albanese said: 'We're a sovereign government, and Australia makes decisions on behalf of the Australian government'. It was the same answer he gave when asked whether he feared Australia recognising a Palestinian State, a view not held by the US, would 'complicate an already complicated relationship' with the US President. Anthony Albanese said Australia will make its own decision as to whether it will recognise Palestinian statehood. NewsWire / Valeriu Campan Credit: News Corp Australia As it stands, Mr Albanese has yet to confirm whether Australia will join UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer and Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney in officially recognising Palestinian statehood, following growing international condemnation of Israel for blocking aid and food shipments to Gazan civilians. Mr Albanese's comments rejecting a call with Mr Trump on Palestinian statehood also follows calls with Mr Starmer and French President Emmanuel Macron. Mr Albanese says Australia would only move to recognise Palestine in order to progress the two-state solution, which would require a ceasefire, the surrendering of Hamas and the release of Israeli hostages captured on October 7, 2023. First reported on Sunday, Mr Albanese is also currently seeking a call with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, with Foreign Minister Penny Wong saying it was 'important for us to put our view very clearly at the most senior levels of the government'. This comes as Mr Albanese spoke to Palestinian National Authority President Mahmoud Abbas overnight on Tuesday, where they discussed Australia's desires for an immediate ceasefire and the release of hostages. 'Prime Minister Albanese also reinforced Australia's commitment to a two-state solution because a just and lasting peace depends upon it,' read a statement from the Prime Minister's office. 'The leaders discussed deepening co-operation across a range of areas, and agreed to meet on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly.'
Sky News AU
3 hours ago
- Sky News AU
James Paterson says Labor must realise it has 'no mandate for tax increases' ahead of reform round table
Shadow finance minister James Paterson has unleashed on the Albanese government for using the imminent economic reform roundtable as a forum to introduce fresh taxes. From August 19 to 21 the government will convene a group of 22 representatives from business, industry, unions and politics to discuss proposals aimed at kickstarting the economy and boosting Australia's record low productivity slump. The government has become increasingly concerned about the growing expectations attached to the three-day summit, according to the Sydney Morning Herald. Mr Albanese then dampened expectations on Monday and said: 'to be very clear, it's not a meeting of the cabinet … it's a meeting in the cabinet room.' With the Productivity Commission's five pillar platform having already received hundreds of ambitions tax submissions from a range of bodies, Mr Chalmers appeared to shift the goal posts of the roundtable on Tuesday, reorienting his priorities to reducing red tape and regulation and bolstering housing supply. The Coalition's finance spokesperson said the Treasurer had 'got ahead of himself' and that the government was now scrambling to alleviate mounting alarm in the business sector that the summit could be used to roll out sweeping tax hikes. 'It's very clear that the Treasurer has got ahead of himself, and the Prime Minister has pulled the reigns and brought him back to where he wants him be,' Mr Paterson told Sky News. 'I thought it was very pointed the other day when the PM said that just because this is a meeting in the cabinet room, it doesn't mean its subsuming the role of the cabinet – he is clearly very unhappy with how Jim Chalmers has allowed the scope to creep here." Although the purpose of the roundtable was aimed at lifting plummeting productivity, the ACTU used its submission to call on the government to limit negative gearing and the capital gains discount to one investment property. Mining giant Rio Tinto urged for the reimposition of an economy wide carbon tax. Mr Paterson said the Treasurer's sudden shift in tone showed the summit had become 'far bigger than the government intended it to be' and that ideas were being put on the table which 'the government had no mandate for.' 'It was also very illustrative yesterday in the Treasurer's walk back that he still said the government was going to use this exercise as a mandate for reform,' he said. 'You dint earn a mandate from a handpicked group of experts meeting in the cabinet room, you earn a mandate by taking policies to an election. 'This government has no mandate for any tax increases, and we will not be supporting them to increase taxes on Australians that they didn't have the decency or the honesty to put to them at the last election." Mr Paterson said the Prime Minister was slowly realising it would be 'unwise' to construct a process to make it appear that the government had a mandate for vast reform and vowed the Coalition would oppose a 'secret Labor agenda' to amend the taxation system. 'We will be constructive in the room as part of this process but that doesn't mean we are going to sign up to a secret Labor agenda or a union agenda of raising taxes,' he said.
The Age
3 hours ago
- The Age
Melbourne's top universities bottom of the class as financial strife deepens
The University of Melbourne, RMIT and Swinburne University are among the higher education institutions facing deepening financial strife under the Albanese's government's 'command and control' approach to the sector. Respected financial consultants KordaMentha warn in a new report that 30 of the nation's 37 public universities have combined debts of more than $10 billion – up by 44 per cent in just six years – and that the reforms Labor enacted last year, the most sweeping changes to the sector in three decades, would make it more difficult for them to pay what they owe. The University of Melbourne had a financial surplus last year of nearly $273 million on revenue of more than $3.7 billion, but researchers placed the prestigious institution at the bottom of its rating of 30 universities for short-term financial health, comparing current assets and liabilities. Two other local institutions, RMIT and Swinburne, came second-last and fourth-last on the same 'current ratio' in the report, published on Thursday morning. Loading The authors say universities – which are facing costs rising at 8 per cent annually, nearly four times the current rate of inflation – need to 'urgently' take a hard look at costs and debt levels to ensure their long-term financial sustainability. The KordaMentha research team, led by former La Trobe vice chancellor John Dewar, identified Labor's reforms of 2023 and 2024 as the most profound changes to the tertiary sector since the early 1990s, as the federal government capped international student numbers and created the Australian Tertiary Education Commission (ATEC). The commission's commitment to 'managed growth' for the sector amounted to a 'command and control' approach, according to Dewar's team, which was likely to increase the financial squeeze on universities which had still not recovered from the shock of the COVID pandemic. ''Managed growth' will see a degree of central control over the size and shape of university provision not seen for many years,' the report's authors wrote.
