Australia can now compel more of the evidence behind age checks

Australia's minimum-age enforcement amendment is already in force. The enacted text records assent on September 11 and commencement on September 12. This is a legal-status gap closed during our September 14 review, not a law passed at noon today.

The ministerial explanation identifies age-assurance and app-store providers among the third parties from which eSafety may seek evidence. Its stated maximum company penalty is A$109.2 million; infringement notices are a separate route. The practical mechanism is access to the people and records behind a platform's compliance claims.

The Act separates written information demands in section 63G from examination notices in Division 4A. Examinations are private, with an adviser allowed, a record available on request, witness protections, a journalist-source exception and specified protections concerning self-incriminating evidence. These limits belong beside the power, not in a distant footnote.

No use of these new powers against a particular company was established in this review. The most useful next records are actual notices, court filings or eSafety's next compliance report. This enacted amendment must remain distinct from the separate digital-duty-of-care proposal.