What we learned, Tuesday 9 December
We’ll leave our live coverage of the news there for today. These were Wednesday’s top stories:
Anthony Albanese said it was “proud day to be Australian” as the social media ban arrived.
Barack Obama’s former chief of staff said the US should follow Australia’s lead on the social media ban.
Apps that were not named in social media ban became the most-downloaded on Apple app store charts.
Queensland’s government introduced a bill that could require ankle bracelets for 10-year-olds on bail.
Westpac customers suffered an outage of digital banking services.
An NSW arson squad found no sign a bushfire had been deliberately lit.
Gina Rinehart’s company’s bid to install a helicopter pad on its new headquarters was blocked by the City of Perth.
Coalition MPs met to thrash out their migration policy.
A report found “obscene” rates of Indigenous children are still being removed from families.
Financial markets are now predicting the RBA will hike interest rates by June.
See you tomorrow.
Updated
Westpac services back online
Westpac has confirmed its online and mobile banking services are back up and running, after hundreds of customers reported outages.
A spokesperson has said:
Our retail and mobile banking services have now been restored, and EFTPOS payments are working as usual. We’re working to resolve any remaining issues affecting our business clients and apologise for the inconvenience.
Man arrested after alleged assault on partner
A man has been arrested in south-western Sydney after allegedly assaulting his partner and hitting her with a car this morning, leaving the woman in a critical condition. Charges have yet to be laid.
Police said they had previously attended the 36-year-old man’s address but there was no apprehended violence order in place and the man had no history of domestic violence towards the woman.
Three children, the youngest aged 6 and the oldest 15, were in the home when officers arrived, Det Chief Insp Paul Albury told reporters. Police alleged the man had smashed the TV and then struck the woman in the head with a glass vase causing abrasions and laceration.
The woman then rang triple zero at 8.35am and ran to the front of the house, before the man allegedly ran over her with a Mazda sedan and left the scene, Albury said. Neighbours rushed to the woman’s aid, police said, and she was airlifted to Camden hospital, where she is being treated for a broken pelvis and internal injuries as well as facial injuries.
He said police conducted a “frantic search” and arrested the man hours later at a phone box, while his car was found two kilometres away.
Updated
Queensland premier spurns MP’s call for return of state upper house
Queensland’s premier has shot down a plea to re-establish an upper house by the state’s only independent MP.
In question time, the independent Noosa MP, Sandra Bolton, asked whether “as a special Christmas gift” the premier would support an inquiry into the reintroduction of an upper house for Queensland. She said the parliamentary committee process was unable to keep the government to account.
The premier, David Crisafulli, said:
When I speak to Queenslanders, front and centre in their mind at the moment – that’s not their top priority, what they’re talking to me about.
The re-establishment of a legislative council has been a consistent call since Labor disestablished the state’s upper house in 1922. Queensland is the only state with a unicameral parliament.
Updated
Australia will ‘suck it and see’ on social media ban, Jane Hume says
The Liberal senator, Jane Hume, says the Coalition is backing the social media ban even though the government hasn’t said how it will measure the policy’s success.
Anthony Albanese has told reporters today the ban is successful by virtue of the fact it is happening at all. Hume, a former Coalition frontbencher, told the ABC she was unworried by difficulty defining the ban’s success:
It is world leading. It is going to be a suck it and see approach. Because we don’t know where it’s going to end up.
The eSafety commissioner told the ABC earlier a long-term study would track youth welfare and behaviours from sleeping habits, social interaction and sports to medication use, academic scores and book reading.
Hume said such a study would be necessary to track the ban’s impacts over coming years. Her only concern was teens’ continued access to chat facilities and social media features on gaming platforms, she said.
Updated
Victoria opens two new tenders for gas exploration
The Victorian government has opened two new tenders for gas exploration, in Gippsland and offshore in the Otway basin.
The decision follows a three-month public consultation, and comes as the federal government prepares to unveil plans for an east coast gas reserve after a review of the gas market.
Historically, the Gippsland basin has yielded most of the state’s offshore gas, while in more recent decades gas has been extracted from both onshore and offshore developments in the Otway basin.
Solaye Snider, a campaigner at Greenpeace Australia Pacific, criticised the decision to open the tenders, saying it “flies in the face of science and community opposition”, adding:
The Victorian government likes to talk up its climate credentials, but this is a serious and alarming backwards step, and a slap in the face to the communities who have fought so hard to stop further gas expansion, and will continue to resist.
Our politicians love to ignore this fact, but let’s be clear: we do not need new gas. Australia already has more than enough gas in production – the real problem is we export 80% of it. With the government recommendation on the gas market review due imminently, now is the time to actually curb gas exports, and ensure no policy incentivises new gas.
A public consultation report on the tenders states:
All decision-making regarding petroleum projects will balance the state’s need for secure and reliable supplies of gas with Victoria’s legislated emissions reduction targets.
Updated
New bushfire warning for Tasmania
Tasmania Fire Service has issued a new bushfire warning to prepare to leave the Nicholls Rivulet area in the state’s south.
The fire is expected to spread embers, smoke and ash to Underwoods Road in Nicholls Rivulet and is travelling towards the town, 40km south of Hobart, the TFS said. They warned locals:
Decide early if you are going to leave, and make sure you have a clear path to a safer place.
If you are not prepared for a bushfire, be ready to leave for a safer place. If you stay, your home may not be defendable.
.@tasfireservice has issued a Bushfire Watch and Act - Nicholls Rivulet - Prepare to leave for Underwoods Road, Nichols Rivulet and surrounds . For more information, go to: https://t.co/j2taquUZFJ or listen to ABC Local Radio. pic.twitter.com/nGGlXd9t1K
— TasALERT (@tasalert) December 10, 2025
Updated
eSafety commissioner compares social media ban to efforts to rein in guns and tobacco use
Julie Inman Grant, the eSafety commissioner, has said teenagers slipping through the cracks of the social media ban will be “booted off” in time, attributing the misses to platforms’ late implementation.
Accounts appearing to be Australian teenagers have boasted they are still on social media platforms in posts and comments on the prime minister’s accounts.
Inman Grant said teenagers may be getting through due to slow implementation from some platforms:
TikTok [and] X and Reddit were the last few companies that communicated to their user base, so I think that you can assume that they were a little bit behind on some of their deployments.
The companies would be required to keep improving their implementation and those teens could “find themselves booted off at a later time,” Inman Grant said.
Teens have also moved to other social media platforms the government has not asked to implement for the ban. The commissioner said new companies could be added to the list:
We’ve written to about 15 companies including Lemon8 and Red Note and Yope. We’re starting these conversations. We knew that migration was going to happen, but what I would say is that, well, I think we’ll see teens lose interest pretty quickly.
Asked if she was disappointed at debate over Anika Wells’ expenses overshadowing the ban, Inman Grant said: “No, not at all. In fact, I’m focused on implementation.”
Updated
If we want women in parliament it needs to be more family-friendly, writes Sarah Martin
While Anika Wells has been focused on today’s social media ban, there’s still a feeding frenzy over her use of expenses. But is it warranted?
Sarah Martin, senior correspondent for Guardian Australia, takes a closer look at whether the minister has leant too heavily on her entitlements or whether parliament needs to move on from being a patriarchal institution, designed for days when absent fathers were the norm.
Read more here:
Queensland to officially scrap renewable energy target
Queensland parliament is set to repeal the state’s renewable energy target tonight after its energy minister, David Janetzki, introduced the legislation in September.
Janetzki said in the bill’s introduction:
Labor’s renewable energy targets were always unachievable. Repealing the targets means Queensland’s energy system will reflect a more pragmatic approach to our changing energy mix.
The state government has also cancelled a string of renewable energy projects and announced a plan to keep its government-owned coal generators running longer.
Debate on the legislation has been guillotined so a vote must be held at 9pm tonight.
The state’s Labor opposition opposed the bill during a parliamentary committee inquiry saying it would make it impossible for the state to achieve its emissions reduction targets. The government has kept the state’s emissions reduction targets of 75% by 2035 and net zero by 2050, but has yet to outline how it will do so.
Nuclear weapons critic urges Australia to ratify weapons ban treaty
Today, 10 December, is UN Human Rights Day. On this day, eight years ago, the Australian-founded International Campaign for the Abolition of Nuclear Weapons (Ican) was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in Oslo in recognition of its efforts to advance the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons.
Seventy-four nations have ratified the treaty which bans, inter alia, the development, testing, manufacture, stockpiling, stationing, use and threat of nuclear weapons.
Dave Sweeney, co-founder of Ican, has urged the Labor government to uphold its policy platform commitment to sign and ratify the weapons ban treaty. He said in a statement:
The AusMin meeting in Washington has seen Australia increasing our military engagement with the US – including elevated planning for Australia being a base for US war fighting operations with the US stating it will prioritise accelerating US force posture initiatives in Australia. …
Against the backdrop of definitely nuclear powered and possibly nuclear armed US and UK submarines operating on routine rotation from HMAS Stirling near Fremantle from 2027, it is imperative that Australia take steps to put guardrails in place to stop a dangerous slide towards normalisation of nuclear weapons and increased acceptance of nuclear war-fighting plans.
It is increasingly urgent that Australia signs the TPNW to put a credible check and balance on the current dangerous drift towards increased nuclear threat.
Updated
Queensland introducing bill that could require ankle bracelets for 10-year-olds on bail
Queensland’s LNP government is set to table a bill in parliament this afternoon that could force children as young as 10 to wear ankle bracelets while on bail.
Youth justice minister, Laura Gerber, will introduce the bill into parliament. She said at a press conference on Wednesday:
Our strong new youth bail monitoring laws mean that a court can fit this device to any youth that appears before them, age 10 to 17.
It follows a string of youth crime bills passed by the year-old government. The premier, David Crisafulli, said at the press conference:
In essence, every court will have the ability to fit a young offender with an electronic monitoring device, [it] means they’ve got nowhere to hide, and it means that police can watch and monitor their every step.
Gerber said there would be court safeguards imposed:
The Youth Justice Department will submit a suitability report to the court when they’re deciding whether or not an electronic monitoring device can be fitted. That suitability report will give the courts the information they need to know around whether or not there is 4g coverage, around whether or not there is bail support services in place to be able to ensure that the electronic monitoring device does its job.
Updated
That’s all from me. Luca Ittimani will take things from here. Enjoy the arvo.
Boy, 16, arrested after man fatally stabbed in Melbourne on Sunday
Victoria police have arrested a boy, 16, after a fatal stabbing in the Melbourne suburb of Ascot Vale last Sunday.
Police said emergency services were called to the area about 3.45pm on Sunday after a man was reportedly found with stab wounds. The man, 40, was taken to the hospital with life-threatening injuries, where he later died.
Police arrested a man, 18, on Monday and charged him with intentionally causing injury, array, escaping custody and theft. He will appear before court on Thursday.
The latest arrest of the teenage boy took place about 10.45am Wednesday in Carlton. He has been taken to hospital under police guard for treatment to an existing injury and will be interviewed. No charges have been laid.
Police are not looking for any additional people in relation to the incident.
Updated
Jacinta Allan says rise of hate abroad threatening Australian multiculturalism
The Victorian premier, Jacinta Allan, says the rise of the radical right abroad is one of the multitude of the challenges threatening multiculturalism in Australia.
Speaking at an anti-hate summit this morning, Allan said multiculturalism was “under threat”. The Victorian government announced an anti-hate taskforce in July following a series of antisemitic attacks in Melbourne.
Allan said factors including insecurity of work, social media “that spreads lies”, technology allowing bad actors to recruit people online, the rise of radical right in the UK and US, and conflict in the Middle East were at the core of the current challenge:
In the decades to come, I do believe we will look back on the current era and say, ‘That was when diversity faced its biggest test.’
Updated
Westpac ‘aware’ some customers having difficulties with banking services
Westpac just released a statement after hundreds of customers reported difficulties with online and mobile banking. The company said:
We’re aware some customers are experiencing issues accessing banking services. We’re working to restore services as quickly as possible and apologise to customers for the inconvenience.
We’ll keep you up to date.
Updated
‘Significant’ safety failures identified in toys from online marketplaces, Choice finds
Six out of 22 toys from online marketplaces AliExpress, Amazon, eBay and Temu fail to meet mandatory safety standards for Australian children, testing by consumer group Choice has found.
Choice says the toys which failed safety testing were: the AliExpress rattle; Amazon lip shaped whistle; Amazon rattle set; eBay rattle; eBay foam letters and numbers; and the Temu elephant teether.
The consumer group’s campaigns director, Andy Kelly, says some of the failures they identified could result in children under three years old choking from ingestion or inhalation of small objects or balls, or choking from objects like handles that could become lodged in the back of the throat.
Kelly says:
The fact that we were easily able to purchase these toys online is simply not good enough.
It’s really disappointing to see more safety failures in toys purchased through online marketplaces, particularly as we get closer to Christmas, when we know many people will be buying products like these for the children in their lives.
Choice says when it contacted the retailers, Amazon, eBay, and Temu responded to say the products had been removed from their platforms.
It says AliExpress “rejected” its claims and said it could not find the product in question on its site. However, Choice says it then found similar items on sale.
Choice and other consumer advocates have urged the federal government to introduce stronger product safety laws.
Hundreds of users reporting difficulties with Westpac app
Some Westpac customers are reporting issues accessing some banking services today.
The website Downdectector currently has more than 1,000 reports of issues accessing Westpac services, including with online and mobile banking.
Guardian Australia has reached out to the bank for comment.
Updated
Are Australian kids breaking the law if they sneak on to social media? – video
Does Australia’s social media ban mean kids aged under 16 will get in legal trouble for circumventing the ban? Will parents get in trouble for letting their kids use banned social media sites?
Take a look below.
Updated
Petrol prices rose in September quarter: ACCC
Petrol prices picked up from July to September after purchaser costs rose, the consumer watchdog has found.
Australia’s five big cities faced an average price for regular unleaded of 178.8 cent per litre, up from 175.7 cents the previous quarter, according to the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission.
Brisbane faced the highest average price at 185.8 cents, followed by Melbourne at 182.9. Most of the increase was the result of retailers covering higher costs from wholesalers and importers, who were accounting for pricier international shipping and operations.
Today, average prices are over 200 cents in Melbourne and Brisbane and set to fall in coming days, while in Sydney and Adelaide they’re under 185 cents but on the rise, according to Informed Sources data used by the ACCC.
The watchdog celebrated the fact that every state and territory now has a fuel price transparency scheme in place, on top of Service Victoria launching a “servo saver” real-time price feature in its app. Anna Brakey, an ACCC commissioner, said:
There is often a range of prices available, and we encourage motorists to utilise fuel price apps and websites to shop around for lower prices to save some money at the bowser.
Parents and students celebrate at Albanese’s social media ban launch
More from Anthony Albanese’s launch of the social media ban at Kirribilli House: among those in attendance is Emma Mason, who has been campaigning for change since her 15-year-old daughter, Tilly Rosewarne, died in February 2022. She held back tears as the PM spoke.
Mason said the moment felt like the end of a marathon, “with another marathon ahead”:
I feel very excited but it’s the dawning of the next moment, which is to keep young people safe.
We’re all in. It’s not going to be perfect, it’s an evolving space but, good God, it’s a good day to be an Australian.
Landmarks around Australia, including the Sydney Harbour Bridge and the Adelaide Oval, will tonight be lit with the colours of green and gold to celebrate the occasion, she said.
Year 9 students from Inner Sydney High flipped sausages with the PM and the South Australian premier, Peter Malinauskas, on the lawn of Kirribilli House.
One of them was Maya Bayarbyamba, 15, who said she was looking forward to spending summer with her younger sisters, rather than online:
I have a 10-year-old sister and I could see how that Charlie Kirk shooting video really affected her. I try to help her – I really feel the mental health aspect of [social media].
Updated
Tasmanian bushfire alert downgraded to ‘watch and act’
Residents are being told it is still not safe to return to an area of north-east Tasmania after a bushfire warning was downgraded to “watch and act”.
As we reported earlier, the Tasmanian fire service issued a “leave immediately” warning this morning for residents of Stieglitz, near the town of St Helens, amid an encroaching bushfire at nearby Diana’s Basin which threatened lives and properties.
In an update at midday, the service downgraded the warning, asking residents to monitor conditions while the fire was “being actively fought”:
It is not safe for residents or vehicles to enter the area due to firefighting activities, fallen powerlines, dangerous trees and other hazards.
If you have remained in the area, continue to monitor conditions and be alert for any changes.
There are watch and act warnings currently in place across Diana’s Basin, Flagstaff Hill, Parkside and Parnella, with a wider warning to avoid bushfire smoke in the area.
You can stay up-to-date on alerts at TasAlert.
Updated
Arson squad finds no sign NSW bushfire was deliberate
An arson squad investigation of a bushfire that destroyed 16 homes has found no signs the blaze was lit deliberately or with ignitable liquids.
The fire swept across Koolewong on the New South Wales Central Coast on Saturday afternoon, with the flames damaging a further 23 homes and at one point jumping a stretch of water 1km wide.
Local police on Saturday established a strike force to investigate the fire’s origin on behalf of the state coroner, with help from the arson squad and forensic officers.
Police today said they found the fire likely began in bushland on Nimbin Avenue and, while the cause remained undetermined, there was no sign it was started intentionally. That blaze was believed to be the cause of another spot fire near Koolewong railway station.
Updated
Australian Stock Horse gelding sells for $110,000, equal to top price ever paid
An Australian Stock Horse gelding has sold for $110,000, equalling the Australian record for the top price ever paid for a gelding in the stock horse industry.
The total value of horses sold on Wednesday at the Dalby Australian Stock Horse sale – which has been running in Queensland since 1974 – set a new record at $8.1m. The top priced horse was a nine-year-old mare named McNamara Conbrace who sold for $170,000, while the average sale price was $27,170.
Auctioneers Ray White said the average sale price has increased eightfold since 2020.
Australian Stock Horses were bred to be working farm horses but are now used as performance horses in sports like campdrafting, which is the richest horse sport in Australia outside of racing with prizes of up to $100,000.
University of Melbourne overturns expulsion of two students who took part in pro-Palestine demonstration on campus
The University of Melbourne (UoM) has overturned its decision to expel two students for taking part in a pro-Palestine demonstration on campus after a legal intervention into the case.
The students were referred to the institution’s disciplinary committee after reports they were part of a group of about 20 who occupied the office of an academic they believed was integral to the university’s partnerships with the Hebrew University of Jerusalem last October. They were expelled in June.
A panel that was interrogating the decision, which had been appealed, found “the student disciplinary committee and vice chancellor did not give proper consideration to the relevant human rights under Charter of Human Rights and Responsibilities Act (2006)“.
Principal lawyer Bernadette Zaydan, who was leading the case against the university, labelled it a “huge win” for human rights and Australians’ right to protest.
The Unimelb for Palestine student group said the decision to overturn the expulsion’s was a “correction on the university’s judgement”.
After a year of fighting the university’s attempts to repress pro-Palestine student activists, we have forced the university to admit that our protest was legitimate.
The UoM was approached for comment.
Gina Rinehart helicopter pad blocked by City of Perth
Gina Rinehart’s company’s bid to install a private helicopter pad on its new headquarters has been rejected by the City of Perth after council planners warned it would generate excessive noise and limit new apartment construction.
Hancock Iron Ore wanted to use the pad to transport its executives, saying it would be used only in daylight hours, a maximum of 12 times a year. Councillor Adam Pacan, a pilot and former radio host, voted in favour of the helipad at Tuesday night’s meeting. He was supported by colleague Catherine Lezer, who said:
We need to send a clear signal the city of Perth is more Yimby than Nimby. We welcome investment.
Perth’s lord mayor, Bruce Reynolds, said he agreed with Hancock’s argument a helipad would help attract business to Perth:
It is the kind of infrastructure world-class cities take seriously, and in this case the proponent, in my opinion, is an amazing Australian.
But the lord mayor said the infrastructure should not be private, encouraging councillors to look for a new opportunity to install a public helipad. Councillors voted 5-2 to reject the helipad.
A Hancock Prospecting spokesperson said the company was disappointed with the refusal. They warned the helipad could have provided an extra landing option for emergency services and the Royal Flying Doctor Service – an organisation the mining giant financially supports:
During our discussions with RFDS and emergency services, they advised they are often faced with scenarios where they cannot land at existing facilities and so any additional options could have helped to save lives.
The spokesperson said the company was considering its options for how to handle the issue. The business could appeal the council’s decision, as you can read here:
Updated
eSafety commissioner compares ban to efforts to rein in guns and tobacco use
Julie Inman Grant, the eSafety commissioner, is comparing the social media ban to efforts on gun and tobacco reform and sun safety campaigns.
She said:
For all of us here, who consider social media to be one of the great social experiments of our time on our young people, then perhaps a social media ban will stand as the first true antidote. It starts here, in Australia, today.
The world will follow like nations once followed our lead on plain tobacco packaging, gun reform, water and sun safety. How can you not follow a country with clearly prioritising teen safety ahead of tech profits?
She said she expects tech companies to fully comply, using their vast information databases and bank balances:
I have every confidence the most powerful and innovative industry of all time has the technical capability to meet these obligations with precision and with continuous improvement.
Updated
‘Today we change lives for the better,’ Anika Wells says
Anika Wells, the communications minister, is speaking again at Kirribilli House.
She said:
Today we change a generation. Today we change a culture. Today we change lives for the better.
This is for the future. A future Australia is leading. Australia, a continent so far away and now yet so far ahead when it comes to online safety.
Updated
‘Success is the fact that it’s happening,’ Albanese says
Albanese said he has been asked what a successful ban for under-16s will look like. He said:
Success is the fact that it’s happening. Success is the fact that we’re having this discussion, parents are talking to their children around the breakfast table, teachers, as we’re speaking, will be speaking to their students.
And we as a society, I must say, not just young people as well, but non-young people, are also thinking about the impact that scrolling is having on their sleep. That engaging with each other, nothing beats interpersonal communication.
Updated
Albanese hails 'proud day to be Australian' as social media ban arrives
The prime minister, Anthony Albanese, is speaking at Kirribilli House on the social media ban, where he is championing Australia’s role as a world leader to show “enough is enough”.
He said:
This is world-leading. This is Australia showing enough is enough.
This is indeed a proud day to be Australian. Because make no mistake – this reform will change lives. For Australian kids, and allowing them to just have their childhood. For Australian parents, enabling them to have greater peace of mind. But also for the global community, who are looking at Australia and saying, well, if Australia can do it, why can’t we? This will make an enormous difference.
It’s a profound reform which will continue to reverberate around the world, in coming months, to assist not just this generation but generations to come.
Updated
Bushfire-affected NSW residents say planned power outage affected ability to defend homes
A New South Wales energy provider has defended its decision to go ahead with a planned power outage during a bushfire last week after residents said it affected their ability to defend their homes.
Residents had lucky escapes and four properties were lost in Bulahdelah bushfire, which began on Friday. One resident in the Crawford River area told the ABC a planned outage by Essential Energy left him unable to operate water pumps and receive emergency updates. The man, who was able to evacuate, said his home was spared but his property was extensively burnt by fire.
In a statement shared with Guardian Australia, Essential Energy said it undertook “priority one maintenance work” on Friday in the Crawford River area “at a time when there was no active weather or bushfire warning in the location”.
When the weather shifted and a warning was issued for the location, crews were stood down from the work and power was restored to customers.
As part of our commitment to the safety of our people and our communities, Essential Energy crews undergo a comprehensive risk assessment prior to commencing any work on the network and we work in close consultation with the Rural Fire Service in these situations.
Updated
Appeal in McPhillamys gold mine case to commence in federal court
The fight over the McPhillamys gold mine in Blayney, NSW has been taken to the federal court with the company appealing a government decision to issue a partial protection Aboriginal heritage protection order at the site last year.
A three-day hearing in the case will begin in the federal court today.
The development attracted headlines last year after the decision, by former environment minister Tanya Plibersek, was criticised by the NSW premier Chris Minns.
The McPhillamys gold project is a proposed open-cut gold mining operation near Blayney, about 30km south of Orange in the central-west. The developer, Regis Resources, had been planning the mine for several years.
In 2021, Wiradjuri elder Nyree Reynolds lodged an application to protect Aboriginal heritage from being destroyed by the mine’s waste dam, which was to be built at the headwaters of the nearby Belubula River. The application, under section 10 of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Heritage Protection Act, was supported by the Wiradyuri Traditional Owners Central West Aboriginal Corporation (WTOCWAC).
Plibersek issued a partial section 10 declaration that prevents the tailings dam being built in this location. Regis Resources said last year the decision would make the project unviable and is seeking to have the order declared invalid.
Anika Wells says social media ban evolving and exceptions won’t last
Anika Wells was asked about some children slipping through the age screenings but she maintained it was an evolving system:
Just because they might’ve avoided it today doesn’t mean that they will be able to avoid it in a week’s time, or a month’s time. The social media companies have to go back and routinely check under-16 accounts … This isn’t just you passed today, you’re fine.
These social media platforms have so much data on us because we choose to give it to them, because we like social media. That is why, we have always said, the onus is on the platform.
Updated
Twitch, Reddit still allowing 14-year-olds to register
We’ve been testing out the various platforms named in the ban to see if under-16s can still register. In addition to YouTube, which we reported earlier, Twitch and Reddit were also still allowing accounts to be registered with birthdates set for 14-year-olds.
Both platforms were approached for comment.
Instagram, TikTok, X and Kick would not allow registrations to go through.
TikTok’s message read:
Sorry, looks like you’re not eligible for TikTok … But thanks for checking us out!
That leaves Snap and Facebook, which require registration via the app, and we are just checking that out now.
Updated
Wells faces tough questions over travel expenses
Anika Wells, the communications minister, is facing tough questions about her expenses amid an ongoing controversy over the cost of her travel.
She said she has nothing to hide, maintaining she has “followed the rules” surrounding parliamentarians:
I’m always listening carefully to my community. I really have been trying to be focused on my work as we do this incredible world-leading ban. But I hear it, I hear you have questions.
I have, during my time, I’ve abided by the rules the whole time I’ve been a parliamentarian.
My job is to follow the rules, I will follow the rules.
Wells maintained she and others should be sensitive to community sentiment, adding she had made herself available to answer questions “for the absolute avoidance of doubt”.
I have been found to have followed the guidelines so far.
Updated
Coalition MPs to meet to thrash out migration policy
Coalition MPs will meet on Wednesday afternoon to debate immigration policy, which could include attempts to deport more asylum seekers whose claims have been rejected.
The opposition leader, Sussan Ley, has promised to unveil the “principles” that will underpin the Coalition’s plan to reduce migration numbers before Christmas, avoiding a repeat of the lengthy and messy fight over a net zero target.
An announcement was expected this week but is now likely to be delayed with the Coalition keen to keep the spotlight on Anika Wells’ travel expenses controversy.
An opposition backbench committee is hosting a virtual meeting on Wednesday afternoon, where the shadow home affairs ministers, Jonathon Duniam, and the shadow immigration minister, Paul Scarr, will “seek colleague feedback on how the Coalition can best address Labor’s multitude of failures in migration policy”, according to an invite seen by Guardian Australia.
The Nine papers and the Australian Financial Review on Wednesday reported the Coalition was planning to target people who remain in Australia after their visas expire, including by lodging asylum seeker claims and then entering the appeals process.
The Coalition would seek to speed-up the processing of asylum seeker claims, including by reducing appeal rights, and deport people where possible, the papers reported.
Sources familiar with the development of the policy confirmed the idea had been discussed but was yet to be agreed.
After the backbench meeting, the policy will be put to Ley’s shadow cabinet before it is announced.
The opposition will not immediately set a target for net overseas migration but will commit to lower the intake.
Ley is under pressure from rightwing colleagues, including Andrew Hastie, and the lobby group Advance to commit to drastically curtail net overseas migration, in part to combat the rising political threat of Pauline Hanson and Barnaby Joyce’s One Nation.
Updated
Tell us: how is Australia’s social media ban affecting you and your family?
We would like to hear from you. How have you been affected by the social media ban? Have there been any issues with your child’s account deactivation, or has an account you have been mistakenly affected? Have there been any flow-on effects in using services linked to social media accounts?
Let us know your family’s experiences using the form below. We may publish your words, if you give us permission, or contact you to ask for further information.
Updated
‘Obscene’ rates of Indigenous children still being removed from families, report finds
The child protection system needs to be turned upside down to “change the story” of Indigenous over-representation in out-of-home care, advocates say.
AAP reports the Family Matters report, released on Wednesday, found early intervention and community-led supports are chronically underfunded, with investment instead skewing towards crisis interventions such as removals. The report said:
Without action on the underlying causes of intervention, like poverty, housing insecurity, racism and exclusion from services, and improved supports for families experiencing crisis, little will change.
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children are 9.6 times more likely to be removed from their parents than non-Indigenous kids and make up 45% of those in out-of-home care, the report found.
Catherine Liddle, the chief executive of peak body for Indigenous children SNAICC, said the Family Matters report, now in its 10th year, came from a need to keep governments accountable on the number of children being removed from family.
“There were no eyes on this alarming figure,” she told AAP. “Today the number is still obscene.”
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Former Obama chief of staff says US should follow Australia’s lead on social media ban
Rahm Emanuel, a former mayor of Chicago and chief of staff to US president Barack Obama, is celebrating Australia’s social media ban.
He posted a video this morning calling on the US to follow Australia’s lead, adding:
I think it’s time for America to pick up its game, and do the same. I think we need to help parents. It’s too much for a parent to push against Facebook, Instagram, TikTok… Snapchat.
Our kids are way too vulnerable. It’s too additive, too alluring.
He compared the effort to banning cell phones from classrooms, writing that “we’ve proven that smart steps are effective. The time for debate and discussion is over”.
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YouTube still allows under-16s to create an account
As an experiment this morning, we attempted to register an account on YouTube putting in the date of birth at 11 January 2011, meaning the user would be currently 14.
The registration was successful, and the account is usable, despite YouTube stating it would comply with the ban and keep under-16s from holding accounts, or registering new ones.
YouTube has been approached for comment.
When a similar test was run on X this morning, it presented an error message when trying to register an account for a similar-aged user. It’s not clear if that is due to enforcing the ban, or unrelated site issues.
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Leave immediately warning for part of north east Tasmania
Tasmania Fire Service just issued a warning for residents of Stieglitz, near the town of St Helens, to leave immediately amid an encroaching bushfire.
An uncontrolled fire at the nearby Diana’s Basin is traveling towards the area, which is expected to put lives in danger and may destroy homes.
There is expected to be thick smoke, and showers of embers which may cause fires all around you. Spot fires may threaten your home before the main fire arrives.
Smoke and ash may make it difficult to see and breathe.
Tasmania Fire Service also said the area around Diana’s Basin and Flagstaff Hill is expected to be impacted by a bushfire, urging residents to monitor conditions and be prepared to leave if necessary under a watch and act alert. The fire is expected to be difficult to control today, and smoke and ash may make it difficult to see.
Pulse Tasmania reports two structures have been destroyed by flames in the area and about 50 people spent the night in evacuation centres.
You can stay up-to-date on alerts at TasAlert.
GPs back social media ban for kids
The Royal Australian College of GPs (RACGP) says it supports requiring social media platforms to prevent children under 16 from creating accounts from today.
While social media use in adolescence has been associated with positive engagement and peer support, the RACGP said in a statement that research has also linked social media use to negative mental health outcomes, sleep disruption, bullying and exposure to harmful content.
The 2021 HILDA survey estimated about 7% of adolescents aged 15-17 had a long-term mental health condition requiring treatment or a mental illness which requires help or supervision, while 19% of patients in this age group were diagnosed with depression, anxiety or another mental illness, three times the rate in 2009 (6%).
Meanwhile, recent University of Adelaide research of 14,000 South Australian children aged 11–14 found the share of daily social media users had tripled in the four years from 2019 to 2022, from 26% to 85%. The share of non-users in this age group fell from 31% to just 3% over the pandemic period.
“Adolescents are experiencing significantly higher rates of anxiety, alongside increased incidents of bullying,” Dr Michael Wright, president of the RACGP, said in a statement.
He went on:
Much of that happens on social media. We know that children and young people are spending extensive time on social media, and this is restricting their sleep and impacting their overall wellbeing.
While many parents are deeply concerned about the effects of social media, there is often reluctance among children themselves to reduce their usage. This highlights the challenge families face in managing online engagement.
We have spoken to the eSafety Commissioner to better understand these changes. There is growing recognition of the need to place controls on the type of information children are exposed to online.
The RACGP said the ban alone won’t be enough, and that parents, teachers, carers and peers should stay vigilant against risks of online harm.
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Australia’s energy grid must triple capacity by 2050 with major increase to wind and solar, Aemo says
The capacity of Australia’s main electricity grid will need to triple by 2050 – including a fivefold expansion of large-scale wind, solar and storage – under the most likely development path, the national energy market operator says.
The estimate is included in the Australian Energy Market Operator (Aemo) draft “integrated system plan” for the national electricity market, the power grid that connects the five eastern states and the ACT.
Aemo found renewables would continue to replace coal as the grid’s “bulk generation”, and total electricity consumption would nearly double over the next 25 years as industry, homes and cars increasingly ran on electricity and the number of datacentres expanded.
It suggested the capital cost of the energy grid infrastructure under the optimal path would be $128bn in today’s dollars. It said the transition would be more expensive if it was delayed and the Albanese government’s 2030 renewable energy target – 82% of generation – was not met.
Read more here:
Financial markets predict RBA rate hike by June
Financial markets are now betting the Reserve Bank will hike rates by the middle of next year, after the central bank board yesterday flagged it may have to act to subdue a rebound in inflation.
Traders are pricing in a nearly 30% chance a hike could come as early as the next RBA board meeting in February, and have almost completely factored in two hikes by the end of 2026.
Michele Bullock, the RBA governor, effectively ruled out further rate relief, saying “the question is, is it just an extended hold from here or is it possibility of a rate rise?”.
Not all economists are convinced the next move is up, however.
Westpac’s chief economist, Luci Ellis, is still predicting two rate cuts in the second half of next year.
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Albanese is stumping the social media ban, on social media
The prime minister posted a brief video announcing the ban to his social media accounts this morning, a slightly ironic moment as, from today, kids themselves won’t be able to see it.
He said:
Social media can be a bit overwhelming for all of us, but for our kids it can cause real harm.
It will mean more time for children to learn, grow and just be kids, without algorithms getting in the way.
Albanese says his use of family travel allowance ‘in accordance with the rules’
Federal politicians are calling for public spending rules to be tightened as it is revealed Anthony Albanese also used the family reunion travel allowance after being invited to major sporting events around Australia.
The prime minister charged taxpayers about $2,800 for three instances of family travel costs on weekends when he also declared being given tickets to the AFL grand final, the rugby league State of Origin and the Australian Open tennis, Guardian Australia can reveal.
A government spokesperson said all of Albanese’s disclosures were “made appropriately and in accordance with the rules”.
Read more about his expenses here:
X complies with social media ban
The last hold-out, Elon Musk’s X platform, has said it is complying with Australia’s under-16s social media ban.
The company’s Australian regulations page updated overnight says users in Australia must be at least 16 years old to hold an account.
It’s not our choice – it’s what the Australian law requires.
X is taking a “multi-faceted approach” to age assurance, using signals to determine account age, such as self-attested age, ID verification, legacy verified users, if the account was created in 2014 or earlier, or those with grey or gold badged accounts.
Without those signals, X said it would use email addresses to estimate age or otherwise check government ID. The platform says after the ID checks, the data is destroyed within 31 days.
X’s compliance means all 10 platforms initially named in the ban – Facebook, Instagram, Threads, TikTok, Snapchat, YouTube, X, Reddit, Twitch and Kick – are complying with the ban.
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Albanese brushes off criticism of Anika Wells’ expenses
Albanese was just asked about the ongoing coverage of communication minister Anika Wells’ expenses. He said parliament is now more representative than it had been in the past, noting Wells had three young children, but would not say if the rules surrounding family travel expenses should be tightened.
He told ABC News:
It is a good thing that parliament is more representative than it used to be. People have a long time away from their families, from their children and from their partners.
The rules are in place, independently. I tell you what is not a good thing, is for politicians to rule and manage themselves. It’s important that there be arm’s length. That is what has been put in place.
The prime minister noted that all expenses are published publicly in “great detail”, which he described as “important for transparency”. He noted Wells had self-referred her expenses to an indepedent watchdog.
PM says social media ban is a ‘proud’ moment for Australia
Anthony Albanese said today will begin a difficult period of transition, but said it was a proud moment for the country.
The prime minister told ABC News:
This is the day when Australian families are taking back power from these big tech companies. They are asserting the right of kids to be kids and for parents to have greater peace of mind. This is a proud day.
We understand this is going to be difficult, but it is so important that young people are given the opportunity to actually grow as young humans and to differentiate as well between what is real in human interactions and what they can often be exposed to online.
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Inman Grant says getting ‘the most powerful, rich companies’ to comply was always going to be messy
Inman Grant said she expects kids to experience massive changes as the social media ban sticks around. The eSafety commissioner added that some social media companies were more difficult to work with than others during the rollout of the ban, telling ABC News:
To the extent that there are seven stages of grief, we have seen some be very accepting, some in denial, some are quite angry.
I guess that shows the character of the company and how they’re taking this. …
People will say the rollout was messy, well it was always going to be messy when you’re dragging the most powerful rich companies kicking and screaming into doing something they don’t want to do. But it’s the right thing for Australian children.
Apps not named in social media ban top downloads on Apple app store charts
As Australians are waking up this morning with the under-16s social media ban now in effect, apps that have not been named in the initial 10 platforms included in the ban have topped the Apple app store free apps charts.
Those are Lemon8, Yope, and Coverstar. As my colleague, Matilda Boseley reported last week, teens were going to these apps in preparation for their accounts on the other sites being shut down.
The eSafety commissioner, Julie Inman Grant, said on the Full Story podcast that she was mindful teens may migrate to other platforms, and more could be expected to comply in the future. Yope and Lemon8 were among those she had been in communications with.
The platforms themselves ultimately need to determine whether they will comply, which is why we saw Bluesky roll out age assurance in Australia yesterday despite not initially being one in the focus of eSafety.
There was a slight uptick in searches for “VPN” on Google trends in Australia as people may be trying to look for ways around age assurance on the platforms using virtual private networks. The government has said the platforms will be expected to try to prevent people circumventing the ban, but has acknowledged it won’t be perfect.
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Inman Grant says ban will have ‘teething issues’ but ‘our kids will be all right’
Julie Inman Grant, the eSafety commissioner, said today is an “absolutely momentous day” as the social media ban for under-16s goes into effect.
She told ABC News while there were certainly be teething issues as tech companies rein in the ability for young people to access their services, over time, she expects platforms to continue to innovate to keep kids off their devices with the world-first ban.
Inman Grant said:
Of course there will be teething issues and kids are ingenuitous, they will be finding ways around it. But the way that we are looking at compliance and enforcement is around systemic failures and I 100% believe that these companies have the technical capability to achieve this and they may have come into this kicking and screaming but now it is time for them to show us their stuff.
I don’t think everything is going to magically disappear overnight but we have corrected for that in our regulatory guidance.
Inman Grant went on to say that “we as parents need to make sure that we’re preparing our kids for the summer holidays to fill their time, kind of like we used to play, riding the bike and reading the books and playing the board games and going to the beach”.
Our kids will be all right.
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Toddler dies in NSW after being hit by ute near Port Stephens
A toddler has died in NSW after being hit by a car on Tuesday night.
NSW police said emergency services were called to a suburban home after reports of the accident. Officers arrived to find a very young girl had been hit by a ute on the property.
The toddler was treated by paramedics at the scene and taken to a local hospital in critical condition, where she later died.
The driver was uninjured and taken to the hospital for mandatory testing. No charges have been laid.
Police will continue to investigate the cause of the accident.
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Good morning, Nick Visser here to take over the blog. Let’s get to it.
And Josh Taylor has interviewed Inman Grant for today’s episode of the Full Story podcast, which you can listen to here:
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Daisy Dumas has written an excellent profile of the “tough” and “courageous” eSafety commissioner, Julie Inman Grant, who has made the ban happen.
Read it here:
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NSW health minister says bed block has ‘serious consequences'
Ryan Park said the surge in bed block was “simply not sustainable”.
“Commonwealth bed block has serious consequences for our state hospitals – from wards, to surgeries that can’t be conducted, to people waiting for beds in the ED. Imagine if Westmead and Mount Druitt hospitals were ripped out from our health system, that’s what commonwealth bed block is doing to NSW right now.”
The release of the data comes at the same time as the latest NSW Bureau of Health Information (BHI) quarterly report for July to September 2025.
Park lauded healthcare workers for improvements in the number of patients being seen on time who are triaged as requiring care within ten minutes (like those suffering from chest pain, difficulty breathing and severe fractures) in emergency departments, particularly in Western Sydney where wait times have been particularly problematic.
He cited Bankstown hospital where on time performance for these patients has risen from 31.6% last year to 47.4% this year, Blacktown from 22.4% to 35.2%, Liverpool from 33.6% to 61.9%, and Campbelltown from 11.8% to 30.1%.
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Bed block surges by more than 50% in NSW hospitals, minister says
Bed block in NSW hospitals has surged by more than 50% in the last year, according to data released by the state government.
It comes as states and territories across the country have raised the issue as a central part of their argument to get more funding for hospitals from the commonwealth, with bed block primarily caused by patients unable to get alternative accommodation in aged care and supported disability accommodation which are federal responsibilities.
They remain in a stalemate over the public hospital funding agreement, with health ministers at all levels to meet on Friday.
The number of patients exceeding their estimated date of discharge in NSW public hospitals because they are waiting to access a commonwealth aged care or National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) placement increased from 747 patients to 1,151 in the year to 30 September 2025.
This is according to data the NSW health minister, Ryan Park, has today released. Of those patients, the growth in patients needing the aged care beds was most significant rising from 443 to 829 in the year period, while demand for NDIS supported accommodation rose more modestly from 304 to 322.
Park also released a breakdown of the growth in bed block in the largest and busiest hospitals in the state (known as level five and six hospitals).
Westmead hospital had the highest number – 60 – of those patients exceeding their date of discharge as at September 2025, followed by Wyong in the central coast with 48.
The greatest percentage increase in these patients in a year’s period was seen at Calvary Mater Newcastle jumping 600% from six patients in September 2024 to 42 patients a year later, followed by a 500% increase at St George hospital in south-west Sydney rising from five to 30 patients.
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Welcome
Good morning and welcome to our live news blog. I’m Martin Farrer with the top overnight stories and then it’ll be Nick Visser with the main action.
The eyes of the world are on Australia this morning after the long-awaited social media ban for under-16s came into force overnight. More details coming up.
Bed block in New South Wales hospitals has surged by more than 50% in the last year, according to data released by the state government. The federal government is deadlocked with states about extra health funding ahead of a meeting between the parties this Friday. More to come.
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