Australia is introducing age verification for search engines, SafeSearch by default for minors, and a new under 16 social media ban. Learn what these changes mean for your household, and how CRISP protects families with ISP-level filtering, parental controls and online safety support.
Australia is entering a new era of online regulation, with major reforms shaping how young people access the internet. While the “social media ban” has made headlines, there’s another shift happening more quietly:
Search engines in Australia will soon require age verification and automatically restrict search results for users under 18.
These reforms sit under the federal government’s ongoing online safety agenda, led by the eSafety Commissioner. The new rules require search providers to verify user ages and automatically apply SafeSearch for younger audiences.
Under the new online-safety codes, search engines operating in Australia (e.g., Google, Bing, DuckDuckGo, etc.) will be required to:
As Australia prepares to introduce age verification, some platforms may eventually ask families to confirm a child’s age using methods such as:
Before you hand over a child’s sensitive information, it’s important to understand the potential implications.
A child’s ID, passport details, birth certificate, or biometric scan can be more valuable to cybercriminals than an adult’s. Unlike adults, kids can’t check their credit history, monitor accounts, or spot identity theft for years.
Even reputable platforms may retain age verification data for:
Parents should review each platform’s:
Passwords can be reset. A face cannot.
If a biometric scan of a child is ever exposed or mishandled by a provider, the risks are permanent.
If age verification is required, look for:
Avoid providing:
Parents can always choose the verification option that feels appropriate or explore alternative tools if they prefer not to provide personal documents.
As a forward thinking ISP, CRISP already provides advanced online safety tools long before the new rules were announced. When age verification on search engines becomes mandatory, CRISP customers will have layered protection.
CRISP blocks dangerous, malicious, explicit, or inappropriate sites at the network level. This includes:
With government rules tightening, search engines will soon help filter what shows up in search results, but CRISP protects everything beyond search, covering:
In short: search engines are aiming to protect what your kids search for, CRISP protects the rest of the internet.
Australia is rolling out major online safety reforms, including age verification for search engines, mandatory SafeSearch for minors, and a new under-16 minimum age for social media. These changes aim to reduce children’s exposure to harmful content, improve digital wellbeing, and strengthen platform accountability across the internet. Under the new rules, search engines like Google and Bing will be required to verify user ages and automatically filter explicit or high-impact content for anyone under 18. Social media platforms will also face stricter compliance requirements, with under-16 accounts no longer permitted from December 2025. Learn more at:
For parents, it’s important to understand how age-verification tools work, including the potential risks of sharing a child’s personal ID, passport details or biometric data. Platforms may offer different options, so families are encouraged to choose the method that feels right for them and review each service’s privacy policy and data retention practices. Privacy guidance: OAIC Privacy & Children’s Data eSafety Age Assurance Framework