Matt Smith (Leichhardt, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

We welcome work experience kids into our office very regularly. One of the tasks that we set them is to write me a speech. They are not given any oversight. It is completely their words, because their voices matter. Today's speech is from Alicia. She came down for youth parliament. She attends Redlynch secondary college. These are Alicia's words:

The Social Media Ban receiving Royal Assent at the end of 2025 was not implemented without reason. Social media presents rising concerns about dangerous content, harming Australia's youths' mental health. However, it is becoming increasingly obvious, while the bill passing was the admirable and moral course of action, that it is not as effective as planned. If we are truly committed to protecting our youth, we must also be committed to ensuring that the ban achieves exactly what it has been put in place for.

According to Molly Rose Foundation, a suicide prevention program, as of 2026 three in five Australians aged twelve to fifteen still have access to social media, despite restrictions. Meanwhile, YouthInsight, a youth focused research agency, reported that over fifty percent of youth have found the ban ineffective in improving their safety, as many retained access. If under sixteens can still easily access social media, is the ban really working? The risk Australian youth are exposed to is far too great to ignore. According to Life in Mind, Department of Health, Disability and Ageing, suicide is the leading cause of death for young Australians. One of the most serious causes of this is that eighty-three percent of young people are exposed to self-harm or suicide content on social media. Viewing such content has shown an increase of suicide risk. Youth must, just must, be protected from this.

From personal knowledge, it is also obvious that current age-verification systems are inaccurate. Underage users have managed to bypass these security measures, and many have continued usage of social media despite the ban. Some Social media platforms have implemented artificial intelligence scans for age verification. Completely unreliable, I've witnessed under sixteens passing the check. Just like that. Nowhere near sixteen and they've passed. When protection measures for age verification, which we rely on so heavily to protect Australia's youth, do not fulfil their sole function, then what type of protection measures are they?

Action to prevent this must be taken, and now. If this issue is to be addressed seriously, steps beyond easily bypassed measures must be taken to create more reliable solutions. More accurate protection systems must be put in place, systems which we can truly rely on to protect the youth of Australia.

So, I call on you, as the social media companies in charge of age verification, please act now and protect Australian youth. Protect them from the exposure of dangerous content plastered across social media. I urge you, the time to act is now.

I want to thank Alicia for her words and her passion. She cares very deeply about her community and the young people of Australia.

Zaneta Mascarenhas (Swan, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

In accordance with standing order 193, the time for members' constituency statements has concluded.