Australia's Govt. Funds Age Verification Pilot Program

CANBERRA—As part of its efforts to combat gender-based violence against women, the government of Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has announced funding to test age verification for pornography websites in a pilot program. This move came after Albanese and the national cabinet ruled in 2023 that mandatory age verification was not yet an option. It is worth emphasizing that this is a trial period of age assurance technology. AUS $6.5 million was appropriated for a pilot of age assurance to test the technology's effectiveness.  "The pilot will identify available age assurance products and assess their efficacy, including in relation to privacy and security," said Michelle Rowland, minister for communications, during a press conference in Sydney on May 1. "The outcomes of this pilot will support the eSafety Commissioners' ongoing regulatory work to implement codes or standards under the Online Safety Act to reduce children's exposure to inappropriate content, and that includes online pornography." The pilot program is presented as a building block on the online safety roadmap mandated by the 2021 Online Safety Act. AVN reported in 2023 that Australia opted not to legislate the requirement that all pornography websites in the country's digital space verify the age of their users without feedback from all stakeholders—especially all private sector entities. Rowland added that feedback from private sector entities will inform a code of conduct and industry-wide standards for online safety and age-appropriate design.  "ESafety is already well engaged in discussions with representatives of all eight sections of the online industry in Australia, including Digi and Comms Alliance, about the scope and outcomes relevant to the next phase of mandatory industry codes," she said. "The eSafety Commissioner sees benefits in having the trial run in parallel with the codes development process, which eSafety expects to conclude as soon as possible." Peter Dutton, leader of the opposition in the Australian Parliament, announced in November his support for mandatory age verification laws for access to adult websites.  AVN reported on eSafety Commissioner Julie Inman Grant being tasked with enforcing the Online Safety Act of 2021—the focal point of a "roadmap for age verification" adopted by the Aussie government—through “reasonable steps” that won't comprise users' privacy and information security, and with input from industry stakeholders on a code for online safety.