The next question
Australia's under-16 social media ban sets an age restriction. But age doesn't tell us if a child is ready for digital life.
By Rinat Strahlhofer, Founder, Digital Readiness Lab
Published · Last updated
Banning under-16s from social media is a significant step in age-based protection, but an age restriction and Digital Readiness are two different things.
Australia's under-16 social media ban took effect on 10 December 2025. A birthday can change access, but it doesn't automatically change capability. Among children aged 9 to 14, the 2026 Australian Digital Readiness Index found the age a child got their first phone wasn't linked to their self-regulation, critical judgement or help-seeking.
Policy may determine access, but readiness asks what a child needs to be capable of. Because the digital world is more than just social media. Because eventually restriction ends. Because if a control is removed, and a parent isn't there, a child still needs to know what to do next.
Explore the evidence
Six months in
Is the under-16 social media ban working?
What happens when the control doesn't hold?
- What the regulator has found: Of the children who had accounts before, around 7 in 10 still had one on Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat and TikTok. (See page 13 of the eSafety report)
Six months in, Pureprofile's research into Australia's under-16 ban has given us an early insight into what's actually happening.
78%
of under-16s were still regularly accessing banned platforms
57%
of parents had tried to enforce the restriction
42%
of those parents said they had found it difficult
41%
of children aged 8–15 said they had tried to get around it
The workarounds? A web browser instead of the app. A friend's account. A fake birthday. A parent or sibling's account. Another device. A second "secret" account.
Restriction can limit access. It cannot, by itself, prepare a child for digital independence.
Source: Pureprofile, Australia's Under-16s Social Media Ban: Wave 2 Report 2026. Online survey of 1,025 Australians, including parents, teachers, children aged 8 to 15 and young people aged 16 to 24. Fieldwork April 2026. https://business.pureprofile.com/australias-under-16s-social-media-ban-wave-2-report-2026/
So we asked the next question
Are Australian children ready for what comes next?
The Australian Digital Readiness Index surveyed 1,029 Australian parents and carers in August 2026, each answering about one child aged 9 to 14.
The baseline tells us something important: Readiness is still a work in progress.
35%
reach self-regulation
34%
reach critical judgement
33%
reach help-seeking
A birthday can change access. It doesn't automatically change capability.
Across children aged 9 to 14, critical judgement increased with age, while self-regulation and help-seeking showed no clear age pattern. The age a child got their first phone wasn't linked to any of the three capabilities.
1 in 8
reach all three readiness capabilities
43.5%
don't yet reach any of the three consistently
38.9%
are developing at least one capability, but don't yet reach any consistently
Source: Australian Digital Readiness Index 2026 (Wave 1), Digital Readiness Lab. Fielded August 2026, published October 2026. Index page
Index figures checked by Dr Sarah L. Howe
All figures are parent reported and show associations at one point in time, not causes. Readiness tiles are among the 888 children with a score on all three capabilities.
What the data has taught us
What shapes readiness?
Pureprofile found that the ban seemed to work best in families that appeared to have the digital fluency to balance relationships, education, sensible oversight and empowerment.
It raises a question worth investigating: Policy can draw a line. Readiness is shaped by what happens around it.
“Success can't be determined by policy. It's the ecosystem in which it exists.”Source: Pureprofile, Australia's Under-16s Social Media Ban: Wave 2 Report 2026.
And our first Australian Digital Readiness Index begins to investigate exactly that.
What happens at home matters. What parents do, know and feel confident about was linked to 28% of the differences in children's self-regulation and 35% in critical judgement.
One parenting approach was linked with all three capabilities: autonomy-supportive guidance. Explaining the reasons, giving children a real say, and finding ways to say yes to more freedom with support.
Source: Australian Digital Readiness Index 2026 (Wave 1), Digital Readiness Lab. Fielded August 2026, published October 2026. Index page
The bigger picture
A child can't build readiness alone
Digital Readiness includes the capabilities children develop and the conditions that support them as they move towards greater digital independence.
Adapted from the bioecological model (Bronfenbrenner and Morris, 2006).
Digital Readiness has to exist everywhere childhood happens.
The 2026 Index begins with children and the family around them. Future waves will extend further into the ecosystem to understand how schools, peers, community, platforms, media and policy shape readiness too. The Index measures three capabilities: self-regulation, critical judgement and help-seeking. Read what digital readiness means →
Partner with usThe handover
Even when children are ready, parents can struggle to let go.
From the Australian Digital Readiness Index:
9.9%
of parents feel comfortable granting online independence.
57%
of parents whose child reaches all three readiness capabilities still don't feel comfortable granting independence online.
The challenge isn't only preparing children for digital independence. It's helping parents feel ready to hand it over.
Source: Australian Digital Readiness Index 2026 (Wave 1), Digital Readiness Lab. Fielded August 2026, published October 2026. Index page
Common questions
The ban took effect on 10 December 2025. Age-restricted platforms must take reasonable steps to find and remove accounts held by under-16s, and stop new ones being opened.
Source: eSafety Commissioner, Social media age restrictions
16 – age-restricted social media platforms must take reasonable steps to stop under-16s from having accounts.
Source: eSafety Commissioner, Social media 'ban' or delay FAQs
eSafety has assessed 10 platforms as age-restricted: Facebook, Instagram, Kick, Reddit, Snapchat, Threads, TikTok, Twitch, X and YouTube. Some other platforms, such as Bluesky, have also told eSafety they consider themselves age-restricted. The list isn't exhaustive and can change, so check eSafety's current list for the latest.
Source: eSafety Commissioner, Which social media platforms are age-restricted?
Platforms can no longer rely on a birthdate entered at sign-up. They use age assurance methods, including checks during sign-up and signals from how an account is used. In Pureprofile's April 2026 survey, 31% of children reported face scanning for age verification, and about half of those passed as over 16.
Sources: eSafety Commissioner, Social media 'ban' or delay FAQs; Pureprofile, Australia's Under-16s Social Media Ban: Wave 2 Report 2026
No. Children and parents aren't penalised. Platforms that don't take reasonable steps can face penalties of up to $109.2 million.
Source: eSafety Commissioner, Social media age restrictions
eSafety says the delay is intended to protect young people from the pressures and risks associated with account-based social media, including impacts on sleep, attention and stress.
Source: eSafety Commissioner, Social media age restrictions
It's too early to say. In April 2026, Pureprofile found 78% of under-16s were still regularly accessing banned platforms, while 41% of children aged 8 to 15 said they had tried to get around the ban.
Source: Pureprofile, Australia's Under-16s Social Media Ban: Wave 2 Report 2026
The Digital Readiness Lab
What actually makes a child ready for digital life?
The Digital Readiness Lab brings together research, measurement and the organisations shaping childhood to understand what children need and turn that evidence into action.
Through the Australian Digital Readiness Index, we are measuring the capabilities behind readiness and the conditions that help shape them. And then we build.
Sources
- 1.Pureprofile, Australia's Under-16s Social Media Ban: Wave 2 Report 2026. Prepared by Little Duck Insights. Online survey of 1,025 Australians, April 2026. [Link]
- 2.Australian Digital Readiness Index 2026 (Wave 1), Digital Readiness Lab. Fielded August 2026, published October 2026. Designed and analysed by Dr Sarah L. Howe, developmental research psychologist, engaged independently by the Digital Readiness Lab. Fieldwork by Pureprofile. [Link]
- 3.eSafety Commissioner, Social media 'ban' or delay FAQs. [Link]
- 4.eSafety Commissioner, Social Media Minimum Age: Compliance update, March 2026. [Link]
- 5.Bronfenbrenner, U., & Morris, P. A. (2006). The bioecological model of human development. In W. Damon & R. M. Lerner (Eds.), Handbook of child psychology (6th ed., Vol. 1, pp. 793–828). Wiley. [Link]
About this page
Written by Rinat Strahlhofer, Founder of the Digital Readiness Lab. This page brings together the Lab's view and the evidence behind it. Figures from the Australian Digital Readiness Index come from the Lab's own research; other figures are sourced from the organisations named and linked throughout. We update this page as new evidence and data become available.
Coming January 2027
Built by the Digital Readiness Lab
A learner’s permit for the internet
LiVELY gives children somewhere to practise Digital Readiness before they have to use it for real. Not simply learning rules. Practising judgement. Managing attention. Recognising what’s happening. Knowing when to ask for help. Making a decision. Knowing what to do next.
LiVELY is the Digital Readiness Lab’s app for children aged 9 to 14, launching January 2027.
Because every child is moving towards greater digital independence.