I welcome the Online Safety Amendment (Digital Duty of Care) Bill 2026 and its objective of placing a legal obligation on tech companies to protect Australians from foreseeable harm when using their platforms. For too long, powerful multinational corporations have operated without adequate accountability while Australians have been left to deal with the often devastating consequences. This bill is an important step towards changing that. A key part of this bill is the provision of stronger internal complaints and dispute resolution processes for users, which I welcome. I also acknowledge the vital role of the eSafety Commissioner as a publicly funded regulator in investigating breaches and holding platforms accountable through enforcement action and financial penalties. But these mechanisms will simply not be enough. An independent ombudsman responsible for digital platforms is critical to ensuring Australians have a failproof way of enforcing their rights against large multinational corporations. This is the purpose of my amendments. My amendments prescribe that online service providers must be a part of an independent external dispute resolution scheme through an online services ombudsman.

We can all relate to the problem of dealing with big tech platforms when something goes wrong. There are no phone numbers or direct contacts who take care of complaints. You email an unknown entity and often never get a response. When accounts are hacked, small businesses and community organisations can be locked out of the platforms they rely on to operate, communicate, reach their customers and support people. Losing access to an account can mean losing income, customers and years of work. Often, complaints about harmful content go unanswered, and the content is never taken down. Challenging a decision made by a multinational tech company can be practically impossible. And, when platforms fail to act, there is nowhere independent to turn.

My amendments provide a practical solution to all of this. They would require the minister to establish an online services ombudsman scheme through a legislative instrument. The Telecommunications Industry Ombudsman, TIO, would perform this role. The TIO already provides an established model of independent dispute resolution for telecommunications consumers. These amendments would build on that model and extend independent protections to users of prescribed online services. Importantly, the scheme would be empowered to investigate complaints, make determinations and issue directions, and digital platforms covered by the scheme would be required to become members and comply with those directions. Crucially, the scheme would be funded by the platforms themselves, not by everyday Australians. This industry funded approach is already familiar in telecommunications, financial services and energy. It also creates an incentive for companies to resolve complaints before they escalate. The amendments would require the scheme to be designed with accessibility, independence, fairness, accountability, efficiency and effectiveness in mind. Importantly, it would operate alongside, not replace, platforms' existing internal complaints obligations.

This is not a new or radical proposal. There is strong support for independent external dispute resolution from the Australian public, consumer advocates, legal and community organisations, and academics. The ACCC has previously recommended stronger internal and external dispute resolution arrangements for digital platforms. These calls reflect a simple principle: Australians should not have fewer rights online than they do when dealing with their bank, telecommunications provider or energy company. This bill is about establishing a duty of care, but that duty must be meaningful for the people it is intended to protect. Strong laws need effective enforcement, and effective enforcement must be matched by accessible remedies for individuals. An independent online services ombudsman would give Australians somewhere independent to turn and provide a practical pathway to resolution. I commend the amendments standing in my name to the House.