The Alannah & Madeline Foundation has welcomed the Australian Government’s proposed Digital Duty of Care, but says the legislation must go further in making technology companies responsible for preventing foreseeable harm to children.
The Foundation wants the Online Safety Amendment (Digital Duty of Care) Bill 2026 to explicitly require platforms to prioritise the best interests of children when designing and operating their services.
“Children and parents should not bear the burden of keeping themselves safe in digital environments that were never designed with their best interests in mind,” Ariana Kurzeme, Director of Policy & Prevention at the Foundation, said in a September 24 statement.
“Just as toy companies and car seat manufacturers have an obligation to ensure their products are safe for children, so too should the digital platforms used by children.”
Kurzeme said children commonly report encountering violent or disturbing content, being contacted by strangers, and struggling to regulate their use of devices, games and apps.
She argues these risks are influenced by platform design and operational decisions, rather than individual behaviour alone.
The Foundation also warned that user safety tools and parental controls cannot substitute for safer platform design, noting that most children who have negative online experiences do not report them and many parents do not use parental controls, particularly as children get older.
Its submission to the exposure draft supports the Bill’s focus on harmful design features as well as harmful content, arguing Australia’s existing complaint-driven regulatory approach needs to adapt to emerging risks.
The Foundation has made 12 recommendations, including making the best interests of the child a legal responsibility for platforms, recognising highly dysregulated or compulsive use as a potential harm, establishing standards for user empowerment tools and ensuring definitions can accommodate emerging threats.
“For the Duty of Care to have real and meaningful impact, the best interests of the child must be built into the design and operation of these services from the start, not treated as an afterthought,” Kurzeme said.
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