Australia’s digital duty of care bill needs these three changes to tackle online child sexual exploitation
Tech platforms need to be responsible for reporting online child sexual exploitation rather than relying on victims to do so.
The Australian Federal Police reported 100,194 cases of online child sexual exploitation in 2025-26, a 21% increase from the previous year. However, this figure is a floor for the actual harm occurring online, as it only includes reports made by companies. The federal government released an exposure draft of its digital duty of care bill, which would make platforms responsible for a "safe online environment."
If passed in its current form, it would not require platforms to actively search for online harms or report their findings to Australia. Most reports come from the US National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, with Facebook and Instagram making up the majority. The count is a floor because looking for harm is optional and can vary based on companies' decisions.
Other countries have mandatory reporting laws, such as Canada since 2011 and the UK starting in 2026. Australia currently has limited child abuse material reporting rules, but the proposed duty of care bill could be strengthened by requiring platforms to proactively detect and report online child sexual exploitation to an Australian body or global counterpart.
Written by urgent.news from The Conversation AU's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
