Social media ban must look to future teen trends
The federal government plans to introduce its social media ban for under-16s by December.
Announced to mixed reviews last year – parent groups were ecstatic, while mental health organisations have warned about the risk of isolating vulnerable teens and tech commentators questioned the data security trade-offs – the ban would eventually require all Australians to complete an age verification process to use Instagram, Facebook, TikTok and other social media apps.
The exact parameters of the ban remain to be seen, and will need to pass parliament, but last week, the Herald reported eSafety Commissioner Julie Inman Grant had advised the government to not restrict its new rules to specific social media platforms.
Inman Grant is specifically seeking to include video platform YouTube in the ban, after it previously received an exemption due to its 'significant educational purpose'. According to the eSafety Commission's research, four in 10 young teenagers have been exposed to harmful content, such as eating disorder videos, misogynistic or hateful material, or violent fight videos, while watching YouTube.
As the Albanese government finalises the details of its attempt to restrict social media on a national scale, the Sun-Herald believes it is extremely prudent to not include a discrete list of platforms the rules cover. Indeed, as Emily Kowal reports in today's Sun-Herald, there are emerging forms of online engagement driven by artificial intelligence, for which regulation should also be considered.
Companion chatbots such as Replika and Character.AI allow users to converse, call and exchange photos and videos with an AI 'friend'. The user can style this friend as their favourite character from a movie, a celebrity, or someone they know in real life.
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It is not hard to see why child safety experts are concerned.
The eSafety Commissioner said she had received reports of children as young as 10 spending hours on chatbots, which AI researchers say learn from their user, evolving to respond in ways to keep them talking for longer.
Some bots are designed to be mean, others tend towards pornographic or other forms of conversation inappropriate for children. All collect information about their user, and few have any real mechanism to validate their user's age.
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The Advertiser
an hour ago
- The Advertiser
Pay penalties to be saved as workers score wage win
Workers on the minimum wage will get more money in a matter of days, as the employment minister pledges to enshrine workplace conditions. From the start of the financial year on Tuesday, workers on the minimum wage will get a 3.5 per cent pay lift, which will mean they take home $24.95 per hour, or $948 per week. The 3.5 per cent rise will also apply to award wages. The increase, which came in above inflation, would help workers keep up with the cost of living, Employment Minister Amanda Rishworth said. "For someone on ordinary hours on the minimum wage, that will be an extra $1700. This is ensuring that these workers get the pay that they deserve," she told reporters in Adelaide on Sunday. "We made it very clear that we thought that these workers deserved a real wage increase, particularly to ensure that they don't fall behind, but they can also actually get ahead." Changes from Tuesday mean the amount of superannuation paid into workers' accounts will increase from 11.5 per cent to 12 per cent and be expanded to include parents taking leave to care for their newborns. A mother-of-two's retirement savings will get a boost of about $14,800, with about 200,000 mums benefiting from the change annually. Parents will gain an additional 10 days, totalling 120 days, of parental leave for babies born after Tuesday. Ms Rishworth said the rise in the minimum wage would complement upcoming laws to federal parliament that would protect penalty rates for workers. But she did not say whether the Albanese government would legislate working from home in the upcoming parliamentary term. "We plan to legislate penalty rates in awards to protect them from being eroded," she said. "Our focus is legislating on what we took to the election. Any other ideas ... we will consider that in the normal course of events." For 2.4 million people on social security payments, the new financial year brings a 2.4 per cent increase to some payments because of indexation. Families on the Family Tax Benefit Part A, will receive $227.36 a fortnight for children aged under 13 and $295.82 for children aged 13 or over. Those on Family Tax Benefit Part B have their payments increase to $193.34 and those with a youngest child aged five or over, the rate will increase to $134.96 a fortnight. While aged pension rates aren't increasing, the threshold for the income and assets a pensioner must earn under to receive a full pension will lift by 2.4 per cent. Four new Medicare items will support longer consultation times and higher rebates for specialised gynaecological care from Tuesday. They apply to initial and follow-up consultations which last a minimum of 45 minutes, either in person or via video, while new menopause and perimenopause health assessments will also be made available. Energy bill support will continue from the government, bringing down pressure on households and small businesses with a $150 rebate automatically applied to bills in two quarterly instalments. But some households could be in for a power bill shock as new benchmark prices take effect, with NSW customers on standing offers facing increases of between 8.3 per cent to 9.7 per cent. Southeast Queensland customers on default plans can expect hikes of between 0.5 per cent and 3.7 per cent, while people in South Australia face rises of 2.3 per cent to 3.2 per cent. Victorian households can expect an average one per cent bump, with some distribution zones actually set for small price drops. Workers on the minimum wage will get more money in a matter of days, as the employment minister pledges to enshrine workplace conditions. From the start of the financial year on Tuesday, workers on the minimum wage will get a 3.5 per cent pay lift, which will mean they take home $24.95 per hour, or $948 per week. The 3.5 per cent rise will also apply to award wages. The increase, which came in above inflation, would help workers keep up with the cost of living, Employment Minister Amanda Rishworth said. "For someone on ordinary hours on the minimum wage, that will be an extra $1700. This is ensuring that these workers get the pay that they deserve," she told reporters in Adelaide on Sunday. "We made it very clear that we thought that these workers deserved a real wage increase, particularly to ensure that they don't fall behind, but they can also actually get ahead." Changes from Tuesday mean the amount of superannuation paid into workers' accounts will increase from 11.5 per cent to 12 per cent and be expanded to include parents taking leave to care for their newborns. A mother-of-two's retirement savings will get a boost of about $14,800, with about 200,000 mums benefiting from the change annually. Parents will gain an additional 10 days, totalling 120 days, of parental leave for babies born after Tuesday. Ms Rishworth said the rise in the minimum wage would complement upcoming laws to federal parliament that would protect penalty rates for workers. But she did not say whether the Albanese government would legislate working from home in the upcoming parliamentary term. "We plan to legislate penalty rates in awards to protect them from being eroded," she said. "Our focus is legislating on what we took to the election. Any other ideas ... we will consider that in the normal course of events." For 2.4 million people on social security payments, the new financial year brings a 2.4 per cent increase to some payments because of indexation. Families on the Family Tax Benefit Part A, will receive $227.36 a fortnight for children aged under 13 and $295.82 for children aged 13 or over. Those on Family Tax Benefit Part B have their payments increase to $193.34 and those with a youngest child aged five or over, the rate will increase to $134.96 a fortnight. While aged pension rates aren't increasing, the threshold for the income and assets a pensioner must earn under to receive a full pension will lift by 2.4 per cent. Four new Medicare items will support longer consultation times and higher rebates for specialised gynaecological care from Tuesday. They apply to initial and follow-up consultations which last a minimum of 45 minutes, either in person or via video, while new menopause and perimenopause health assessments will also be made available. Energy bill support will continue from the government, bringing down pressure on households and small businesses with a $150 rebate automatically applied to bills in two quarterly instalments. But some households could be in for a power bill shock as new benchmark prices take effect, with NSW customers on standing offers facing increases of between 8.3 per cent to 9.7 per cent. Southeast Queensland customers on default plans can expect hikes of between 0.5 per cent and 3.7 per cent, while people in South Australia face rises of 2.3 per cent to 3.2 per cent. Victorian households can expect an average one per cent bump, with some distribution zones actually set for small price drops. Workers on the minimum wage will get more money in a matter of days, as the employment minister pledges to enshrine workplace conditions. From the start of the financial year on Tuesday, workers on the minimum wage will get a 3.5 per cent pay lift, which will mean they take home $24.95 per hour, or $948 per week. The 3.5 per cent rise will also apply to award wages. The increase, which came in above inflation, would help workers keep up with the cost of living, Employment Minister Amanda Rishworth said. "For someone on ordinary hours on the minimum wage, that will be an extra $1700. This is ensuring that these workers get the pay that they deserve," she told reporters in Adelaide on Sunday. "We made it very clear that we thought that these workers deserved a real wage increase, particularly to ensure that they don't fall behind, but they can also actually get ahead." Changes from Tuesday mean the amount of superannuation paid into workers' accounts will increase from 11.5 per cent to 12 per cent and be expanded to include parents taking leave to care for their newborns. A mother-of-two's retirement savings will get a boost of about $14,800, with about 200,000 mums benefiting from the change annually. Parents will gain an additional 10 days, totalling 120 days, of parental leave for babies born after Tuesday. Ms Rishworth said the rise in the minimum wage would complement upcoming laws to federal parliament that would protect penalty rates for workers. But she did not say whether the Albanese government would legislate working from home in the upcoming parliamentary term. "We plan to legislate penalty rates in awards to protect them from being eroded," she said. "Our focus is legislating on what we took to the election. Any other ideas ... we will consider that in the normal course of events." For 2.4 million people on social security payments, the new financial year brings a 2.4 per cent increase to some payments because of indexation. Families on the Family Tax Benefit Part A, will receive $227.36 a fortnight for children aged under 13 and $295.82 for children aged 13 or over. Those on Family Tax Benefit Part B have their payments increase to $193.34 and those with a youngest child aged five or over, the rate will increase to $134.96 a fortnight. While aged pension rates aren't increasing, the threshold for the income and assets a pensioner must earn under to receive a full pension will lift by 2.4 per cent. Four new Medicare items will support longer consultation times and higher rebates for specialised gynaecological care from Tuesday. They apply to initial and follow-up consultations which last a minimum of 45 minutes, either in person or via video, while new menopause and perimenopause health assessments will also be made available. Energy bill support will continue from the government, bringing down pressure on households and small businesses with a $150 rebate automatically applied to bills in two quarterly instalments. But some households could be in for a power bill shock as new benchmark prices take effect, with NSW customers on standing offers facing increases of between 8.3 per cent to 9.7 per cent. Southeast Queensland customers on default plans can expect hikes of between 0.5 per cent and 3.7 per cent, while people in South Australia face rises of 2.3 per cent to 3.2 per cent. Victorian households can expect an average one per cent bump, with some distribution zones actually set for small price drops. Workers on the minimum wage will get more money in a matter of days, as the employment minister pledges to enshrine workplace conditions. From the start of the financial year on Tuesday, workers on the minimum wage will get a 3.5 per cent pay lift, which will mean they take home $24.95 per hour, or $948 per week. The 3.5 per cent rise will also apply to award wages. The increase, which came in above inflation, would help workers keep up with the cost of living, Employment Minister Amanda Rishworth said. "For someone on ordinary hours on the minimum wage, that will be an extra $1700. This is ensuring that these workers get the pay that they deserve," she told reporters in Adelaide on Sunday. "We made it very clear that we thought that these workers deserved a real wage increase, particularly to ensure that they don't fall behind, but they can also actually get ahead." Changes from Tuesday mean the amount of superannuation paid into workers' accounts will increase from 11.5 per cent to 12 per cent and be expanded to include parents taking leave to care for their newborns. A mother-of-two's retirement savings will get a boost of about $14,800, with about 200,000 mums benefiting from the change annually. Parents will gain an additional 10 days, totalling 120 days, of parental leave for babies born after Tuesday. Ms Rishworth said the rise in the minimum wage would complement upcoming laws to federal parliament that would protect penalty rates for workers. But she did not say whether the Albanese government would legislate working from home in the upcoming parliamentary term. "We plan to legislate penalty rates in awards to protect them from being eroded," she said. "Our focus is legislating on what we took to the election. Any other ideas ... we will consider that in the normal course of events." For 2.4 million people on social security payments, the new financial year brings a 2.4 per cent increase to some payments because of indexation. Families on the Family Tax Benefit Part A, will receive $227.36 a fortnight for children aged under 13 and $295.82 for children aged 13 or over. Those on Family Tax Benefit Part B have their payments increase to $193.34 and those with a youngest child aged five or over, the rate will increase to $134.96 a fortnight. While aged pension rates aren't increasing, the threshold for the income and assets a pensioner must earn under to receive a full pension will lift by 2.4 per cent. Four new Medicare items will support longer consultation times and higher rebates for specialised gynaecological care from Tuesday. They apply to initial and follow-up consultations which last a minimum of 45 minutes, either in person or via video, while new menopause and perimenopause health assessments will also be made available. Energy bill support will continue from the government, bringing down pressure on households and small businesses with a $150 rebate automatically applied to bills in two quarterly instalments. But some households could be in for a power bill shock as new benchmark prices take effect, with NSW customers on standing offers facing increases of between 8.3 per cent to 9.7 per cent. Southeast Queensland customers on default plans can expect hikes of between 0.5 per cent and 3.7 per cent, while people in South Australia face rises of 2.3 per cent to 3.2 per cent. Victorian households can expect an average one per cent bump, with some distribution zones actually set for small price drops.
Sky News AU
an hour ago
- Sky News AU
Coalition says Australia needs ‘immediate action' needed to solve 'desperate situation' in Australian Defence Force
The federal Coalition has reiterated the need for Australia to boost its defence spending, with the shadow defence minister warning the situation was becoming 'desperate' and 'immediate action' is needed. The Albanese government has rejected the Trump administration's calls for Australia to increase it's defence spending, despite NATO agreeing to increase it's target to 5 per cent of GDP by 2035. Defending the position on Sunday, Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke said Australia's defence spending should be driven by the capabilities we need, not an arbitrary target. "We start with the capability. We don't start with the dollars," Mr Burke told Sky News Australia. But shadow defence minister Angus Taylor said the Albanese government wasn't even meeting the goals set out in its own Defence Strategic Review. 'It should be based on need, but his own defence strategic review has laid out where the money needs to be spent, and it's not being spent. I mean, this is the point, this government's not even meeting its own goals,' Mr Taylor told Sunday Agenda. 'Forget the pressure being put on by the United States, this is about what's appropriate for us. 'We are seeing authoritarian regimes across the globe flexing their muscles, and open democratic societies like ours need to stand up for what we believe in. 'And if we are to have control of our own destiny, if we're to play the role we need to play in ensuring we have peace through deterrence in our region, the spending is too low. And the government's own plan demonstrates that." Mr Taylor said defence experts were warning that Australia risked having a 'paper ADF'. 'This is a desperate situation now, and it needs immediate action,' the shadow minister added. The shadow defence minister said there were 'a whole series of areas' in defence that are currently underfunded. 'Our naval surface fleet is not where it needs to be,' he said. 'Right now we're even seeing ships that are not getting the appropriate level of maintenance and sustainment, so they're not in operation as they should be. 'We know we need to increase spending on recruitment and making sure we're getting the people we need into our defence force. We are thousands and thousands of people short of where we should be. "But we also know we need hardening of our northern facilities in places like Tyndall, in Darwin, in Townsville. 'We need to make sure that the Henderson sub facility is getting the investment it needs to be able to build the subs, and also play our role in maintenance and sustainment. 'We need to invest in that drone and counter-drone technology, which we know is playing such an important role in conflicts across the globe. 'All of these things desperately need investment. The underinvestment is really showing.' Mr Taylor said keeping Australians safe and making sure we have peace in the region was the 'first and most important imperative' for government and an inability to do this is a major failure. 'If a government is not in a position to make the investments necessary to achieve peace through deterrence in the region it is in, then it has failed its people,' he said.
Sydney Morning Herald
2 hours ago
- Sydney Morning Herald
Religious worship powers under spotlight after arrest of former Greens candidate
In NSW, police are not allowed to issue move on directions for genuine protests unless they decide it presents a 'serious risk' to a person's safety, is obstructing traffic or, after the changes introduced by the Minns government this year, is taking place near a place of worship. The document states police attended the protest on Friday morning after receiving 'intelligence' via Instagram that a group called Weapons Out of The West would hold an 'unauthorised' protest at the Belmore business. At 5.50am, a person was seen walking past the business and 'communicating via a group chat'. After confirming they were attending a demonstration, police said the person was issued a move-on direction on the basis the 'unauthorised' demonstration would 'cause fear and alarm'. The group, the fact sheet said, had 'a history of violent disruptions outside of the SEC Plating business'. They were initially arrested, but then released after indicating they would comply with the direction. However, the police fact sheet then says the person 'walked across the road to the opposite side of SEC Plating which is a place of worship'. At that point, officers approached the protester and again 'informed her to comply with the move on direction'. 'Due to the accused being given repeated warnings and opportunities to comply with the direction, she was cautioned and placed under arrest for failing to comply with a move on direction,' it stated. Loading The reference to a place of worship has sparked serious concern among civil liberty groups and legal experts, who have repeatedly warned the laws are overly broad. In February, Premier Chris Minns pushed through new laws banning protests near places of worship following the so-called Dural caravan incident. The laws faced pushback from members of the Labor caucus at the time, MPs arguing the wording of the bill would allow police to break up protests even if a demonstration was unrelated to the religious institution. The caravan, along with a spate of other antisemitic attacks, was revealed to be a 'con job' carried out by organised crime figures rather than racially motivated hate crimes or terror plots. NSW Police deny the anti-protest laws were used in the arrest and said the protesters were given a move-on order for allegedly blocking pedestrian access to the business, which had been the target of protests previously. Greens MP Sue Higginson, who has written to Police Minister Yasmin Catley demanding Thomas's injury as a critical incident investigation, said she was 'shocked but unsurprised'. 'It's written there in black and white. A direct reference to the anti-protest laws rushed through the NSW Parliament under the sordid non-disclosure of the truth around the Dural caravan incident,' she said. 'I along with others in parliament warned the premier and his government that we would see this level of impunity and now here it is.' Last week the NSW Supreme Court heard a challenge against the laws mounted by the head of the Palestine Action Group, Josh Lees. Lawyers for Lees have argued the laws are unconstitutional. Speaking at an event in Sydney on Sunday, Premier Chris Minns said it was too early to comment on whether the arrest was an appropriate use of his government's anti-protesting laws. 'I'd wait for that information to come in,' he said, adding police were investigating the extent of Thomas' injuries.
