eSafety notified Roblox last week of its intention to directly test the platform's implementation and effectiveness of the nine safety commitments it made to Australia's online safety regulator last year, amid growing concerns, including from the Australian Government, about online child grooming and sexual exploitation.
In September last year, Roblox made nine specific commitments to support compliance with its obligation to keep Australians – particularly children – safer under the Online Safety Act, following months of engagement with eSafety.
These commitments included:
- making accounts for users aged under 16 private by default and introducing tools to prevent adult users from contacting under 16s without parental consent.
- switching off key features by default for children in Australia, such as direct chat and 'experience chat' within games, until the user has gone through age estimation.
- After a child aged under 16 has gone through age estimation and has chat enabled, they will be unable to chat with adults. Parental controls also allow parents to disable chat for 13- to 15-year-old users, on top of existing protections for under 13s.
- Voice Chat will also not be allowed between adults and 13–15-year-olds, in addition to the current prohibition on the use of this feature by under 13s.
Roblox informed eSafety at the end of 2025 that it had delivered on its commitments.
Since then, eSafety has been monitoring the delivery of these commitments and whether they constitute compliance, in addition to our broader assessment of the service, and any new features it implements.
"We remain highly concerned by ongoing reports regarding the exploitation of children on the Roblox service, and exposure to harmful material," eSafety Commissioner Julie Inman Grant said.
"That's why eSafety wrote to Roblox last week to notify them that, in addition to our ongoing compliance monitoring, we will also be directly testing the implementation of its commitments so that we have first-hand insights into this compliance.
"I welcome the Minister for Communications' correspondence and the Australian Government's support on this important issue, as we use all of the tools available to us to keep Australian kids safe online."
Subject to the outcome of this assessment and testing, eSafety may take further action under the Online Safety Act.
Where there is non-compliance, eSafety will use the full range of its enforcement powers, as appropriate. This can include seeking penalties of up to $49.5 million.
New codes focused on age-restricted material such as online pornography, high impact violence and self-harm come into force on 9 March and apply to Roblox.
These also contain requirements for online gaming services such as Roblox to prohibit and take proportionate action against non-consensual sharing of intimate images; the grooming of children; and sexual extortion.
eSafety will be assessing Roblox's compliance from 9 March with these obligations.
