The Consumer Research Report, conducted by the Social Research Centre, surveyed nearly 4,000 people on how they engage with and consume online content and their views towards use of age assurance technology.
The research revealed that Australians generally understand the importance of age assurance as a means of preventing children from accessing inappropriate material online. Around 9 in 10 adults expressed support for age assurance to some extent. This is unsurprising, given nearly half of all young people (ages 8-17) had been exposed to inappropriate content and expressed safety concerns with content on their feeds.
However, there is a high level of security and privacy concerns, with only 4.4% of adults fully trusting online platforms to store personal information securely.
The consumer research is part of the Australian Government's $6.5 million Age Assurance Trial.
Social media platforms operating in Australia have until December 2025 to develop and roll out systems to enforce the legislated social media age restrictions.
