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A proposed change to platforms’ legal responsibilities
Published8September2026. Creates proposed ministerial/Commissioner discretion and provider duties if enacted. Operative rules and certain simplified outlines remain incomplete.
On 13 September2026, Anika Wells offered to negotiate wording that would give Parliament a role in deciding new duty-of-care harm categories, while retaining an urgent-response mechanism. She was answering David Speers on ABC Insiders. This is a public negotiating position: the revised or introduced bill must establish whether and how the proposed ministerial power changes.
Australia digital duty of care — exposure draft → Draft foreseeable, combined and non-user risks
25E/26A: named-category absence is insufficient to exhaust assessment scope. Context with existing25Hprivacy/practicability and26(7)private-consenting-adult duty exception; no blanket exclusion of lawful adult speech or all other powers.
Australian communications minister — statutory role → Australia digital duty of care — exposure draft
2026-09-08 – 2026-09-08
8September2026 public PDF/DOCX release coexists with targeted categories. Does not resolve whether companies received earlier or fuller drafts. Public simplified outlines incomplete; no established redaction or byte-equivalence audit.
Australia digital duty of care — exposure draft → Australian communications minister — statutory role
Sections25A-G and27B: exemptions, specified additions and empowerment tools. Advice requirements vary;27B does not list every power. Thresholds constrain general serious-harm additions. Future instruments not acquired.
Australia digital duty of care — exposure draft → Draft initial categories and ministerial additions
25B-D distinguish serious harm, additional child protection andunder16 social-media features. No generic misinformation/democracy label named; not an assurance none could intersect listed conduct or future additions.
Australia digital duty of care — exposure draft → Private consenting-adult limit on the duty
Section26(7) PDF36: does not require action regarding lawful communications privately solely between consenting adults. Does not prohibit intervention under every other power; adult-AI coverage unresolved.
Australia digital duty of care — exposure draft → Australian eSafety Commissioner
Sections26A and198-205 specify assessments/information, building on existing authority. New general compliance limb excludes Part4A age-ban duties. No universal identity-collection mandate.
Australia digital duty of care — exposure draft → Approved Australian-university researchers
Section205B: Australian-university employment, approval under legislative rules, ethics and prescribed public-interest research. Not NGO/company access merely by invitation or affiliation.
Australia digital duty of care — exposure draft → Covered online-service providers
Sections25H,26-26A PDF35-38: risk assessment, design and effective measures; proportionality rather than zero-harm guarantee. Proposed, not enacted or implemented.
Digital Duty of Care: draft access and missing-text claims ↗
Australia Digital Duty of Care: operative authority and adult choice ↗
Australian duty of care: attributable model transmission ↗
Mannifera selection, fiscal authority and the HRLC reform output ↗
Published updated statutory review —February2025 → earlier overarching-duty recommendation reflected in proposal → Australia digital duty of care — exposure draft
Interpretation from the evidence
Comparison shows an overarching duty in both review recommendation and later exposure draft. Exact departmental drafting chain and attribution of particular clauses remain not obtained.
Australia digital duty of care — exposure draft → would impose reasonably practicable safe-environment duty → Covered online-service providers
Sections25H,26-26A PDF35-38: risk assessment, design and effective measures; proportionality rather than zero-harm guarantee. Proposed, not enacted or implemented.
Australia digital duty of care — exposure draft → would delegate specified scope and harm-category rules → Australian communications minister — statutory role
Sections25A-G and27B: exemptions, specified additions and empowerment tools. Advice requirements vary;27B does not list every power. Thresholds constrain general serious-harm additions. Future instruments not acquired.
Australia digital duty of care — exposure draft → would extend assessment and compliance powers → Australian eSafety Commissioner
Sections26A and198-205 specify assessments/information, building on existing authority. New general compliance limb excludes Part4A age-ban duties. No universal identity-collection mandate.
Australia digital duty of care — exposure draft → limits what duty requires for private adult communications → Private consenting-adult limit on the duty
Section26(7) PDF36: does not require action regarding lawful communications privately solely between consenting adults. Does not prohibit intervention under every other power; adult-AI coverage unresolved.
Australia digital duty of care — exposure draft → includes privacy in proportionality assessment → Privacy in reasonably practicable measures
Sections26-26A consider privacy alongside risk and practicability. Not a blanket encryption exemption, universal consent rule or observed operational safeguard.
Australia digital duty of care — exposure draft → makes specified decisions reviewable → Review of specified enforcement decisions
Schedule2 item58 adds specified decisions including26D directions to ART review. No general automatic stay or complete instrument/disallowance audit.
Australia digital duty of care — exposure draft → would restrict eligibility to approved university researchers → Approved Australian-university researchers
Section205B: Australian-university employment, approval under legislative rules, ethics and prescribed public-interest research. Not NGO/company access merely by invitation or affiliation.
Australian communications minister — statutory role → announces targeted consultation alongside public release → Australia digital duty of care — exposure draft
2026-09-08 – 2026-09-08
8September2026 public PDF/DOCX release coexists with targeted categories. Does not resolve whether companies received earlier or fuller drafts. Public simplified outlines incomplete; no established redaction or byte-equivalence audit.
Australia digital duty of care — exposure draft → inspected clauses do not enact full proposed rights framework → Rights-First reasons, remedies and review
Interpretation from the evidence
26F complaint processes apply to classes designated by eSafety with instrument-set requirements;25H weighs privacy. These clauses do not themselves establish universal explanation/restoration. Scoped text comparison, not identified government rejection or claim whole draft lacks safeguards.
Australia digital duty of care — exposure draft → specifies initial harm and child/feature categories → Draft initial categories and ministerial additions
25B-D distinguish serious harm, additional child protection andunder16 social-media features. No generic misinformation/democracy label named; not an assurance none could intersect listed conduct or future additions.
Australia digital duty of care — exposure draft → would assess foreseeable risks including combined and non-user harms → Draft foreseeable, combined and non-user risks
25E/26A: named-category absence is insufficient to exhaust assessment scope. Context with existing25Hprivacy/practicability and26(7)private-consenting-adult duty exception; no blanket exclusion of lawful adult speech or all other powers.