AI Regulation in Australia
Australia has 21 tracked AI regulatory updates across 3 frameworks. This page provides an overview of the current regulatory landscape, upcoming deadlines, and recent enforcement activity.
Recent Regulatory Updates
Basic Online Safety Expectations and transparency reporting guidance
eSafety says that social media, messaging and gaming service providers and other apps and websites will take reasonable steps to keep Australians safe, and that it can require providers to report on how they are meeting the Expectations.
eSafety legal notices to AI companion providers on child safety and harmful content
eSafety issued legal notices to four AI companion providers requiring them to explain how they are protecting Australian children from sexually explicit content, suicide and self-harm risks, and child sexual exploitation and abuse material.
Basic Online Safety Expectations and reporting guidance
The Basic Online Safety Expectations outline the Australian Government’s expectations that certain online service providers take reasonable steps to keep Australians safe, and eSafety can require reporting on how they are meeting them.
eSafety publishes transparency notice responses for AI services
eSafety publishes a transparency-notice report on AI services and explains how it uses enforceable notices to assess compliance with the Basic Online Safety Expectations.
Australia Age-Restricted Material Codes fully commence
Australia's Age-Restricted Material Codes have fully commenced, requiring online services across the ecosystem to put in place age-appropriate protections for children and age assurance for access to certain adult material.
Register of Online Safety Codes and Standards
eSafety maintains a public register of Online Safety Codes and Standards, including unlawful material and age-restricted material codes, related standards, notices, and directions to comply.
eSafety findings on AI companion apps following October 2025 transparency notices
eSafety published findings from transparency notices issued to four AI companion service providers, identifying serious gaps in child safety, age assurance, trust and safety staffing, and model testing during the 1 July 2025 to 30 September 2025 reporting period.
Basic Online Safety Expectations
eSafety’s Basic Online Safety Expectations state that online service providers should take reasonable steps to keep Australians safe, including by making services safer, more transparent, and responsive to complaints and reporting obligations.
eSafety AI transparency statement
eSafety says it uses AI under an internal policy with human oversight, risk assessment, staff training, and periodic review, and will not use AI in ways inconsistent with its legal obligations or to make final regulatory decisions without accountable human judgment.
Recommender systems and algorithms – position statement
eSafety’s updated position statement on recommender systems and algorithms says these systems can amplify harm, should be designed with user safety first, and should provide users more control and transparency.
Generative AI – position statement
eSafety’s generative AI position statement describes the technology, identifies risks and harms, and encourages Safety by Design, transparency, and accountability measures for services that generate content.
Age-Restricted Material Codes fully commence in Australia
Australia's Age-Restricted Material Codes fully commenced, introducing age-assurance and content-access controls across online services used by children, including AI companions and social platforms.
Australian Search Code registered with new AI protections
eSafety will register the Search Code with added protections to reduce the risk that search services return child abuse material or use integrated AI to generate synthetic versions of it.
Australia eSafety guidance and codes impose child-safety obligations on AI services
Australia’s eSafety updates say mandatory codes commencing on 9 March 2026 and the fully commenced age-restricted material rules now require AI companion and generative AI services to take meaningful steps to protect children, so services must act before that date.
eSafety issues advisory warning on unrestricted AI chatbots and child development
On 2025-02-18, eSafety issued an advisory warning that unrestricted AI chatbots are exposing children to sex, drug-taking, self-harm, suicide, and eating-disorder content, signaling immediate Safety by Design expectations for providers of AI companion products.
Applicable Frameworks
Key Topics
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