Seventy nine per cent of Australians support more consumer protections for apps and digital platforms, with only 4 per cent in opposition, confirms research by peak communications consumer body ACCAN.
Appearing before the Senate Environment and Communications Legislation Committee's inquiry into the Online Safety Amendment (Digital Duty of Care) Bill 2026 today, ACCAN CEO Carol Bennett and Deputy CEO Gareth Downing expressed support for the Bill. A Digital Duty of Care would impose clear responsibilities on online service providers, supported by an obligation to provide a safe online environment for all Australians.
"These proposals reflect a positive, material shift from reacting to the impacts of emerging online harms to proactively incentivising their prevention," said ACCAN CEO Carol Bennett.
"ACCAN has long called for a Digital Duty of Care to be legislated for online service providers. This Bill is a significant step forward for Australian consumers and we know that 79% are in support of increased protections for apps and digital platforms - with a very small percentage opposed."
The research will be presented in full at ACCAN's Digital Services Conference in November.
ACCAN recommended three targeted improvements to the Bill to further strengthen the protections offered to Australian consumers:
- extending the protections, or an adapted version of them, to adults as well as minors;
- implementing a robust data access scheme to enable approved researchers to conduct online safety research; and
- ensuring the eSafety Commissioner can effectively fulfil its expanded remit and responsibilities under the Bill.
ACCAN also supports the proposed User Empowerment Tool which gives users a choice of feed. In the Department's consultation on that feature, ACCAN has urged uplifts to draft Section 7, including protections against the use of prompts and dark patterns.
"Like any policy or legislative measure, the Digital Duty of Care will not be a cure-all for all harms that can occur online. It must be considered in tandem with other critical online safety measures, including measures such as the social media minimum age requirements, the Scam Prevention Framework, cyber security laws, and, strong consumer safeguards around the use and misuse of artificial intelligence," Ms Bennett said.
ACCAN said the legislation and the broader framework should be frequently reviewed to ensure they remain fit-for-purpose.
More broadly, ACCAN calls for the development and funding of consumer representation and a complaints process through a digital platforms ombudsman to support the role of the eSafety Commissioner.
The Bill is a key step forward to ensure Australians can engage with online platforms safely, giving the regulator the tools it needs to hold big tech platforms and services to account.
About us:
The Australian Communications Consumer Action Network (ACCAN) is Australia's peak communication consumer organisation. The operation of ACCAN is made possible by funding provided by the Commonwealth of Australia under section 593 of the Telecommunications Act 1997. This funding is recovered from charges on telecommunications carriers.
