School principals nationwide are being asked to get on board with Australia's world-first social media ban as the government fends off criticism the policy is being drawn up on the fly.
A letter from federal ministers Jason Clare and Anika Wells has been sent to the leaders of all schools in Australia, urging them to promote and support the delivery of the ban for users younger than 16 when it starts on December 10.
While the ban won't completely shield young people from harmful content, the letter emphasises that schools are vital in continuing the conversation on preventing online harm.
"Schools and teachers are on the front line of helping young people deal with the online world," Mr Clare said on Saturday.
"We're giving them the support they need to help keep kids safe."
Existing bans on mobile phones in schools were helping children stay focused in class, but once the end-of-day bell sounded, they were currently "back into the cesspit" of social media, the education minister said.
Young people will be blocked from creating accounts on and using popular platforms such as Instagram, TikTok and YouTube, but the letter noted they would still have access to online gaming, messaging apps and services focused on education and health support.
The Labor government has faced criticism from the opposition and others for making last-minute inclusions to the list of platforms required to enforce age restrictions.
Live-streaming platform Twitch became the latest to be included in the looming ban on Friday - less than three weeks before the restrictions are due to take effect.
Mr Clare defended suggestions the last-minute additions were "policy on the run", saying platforms would continue to be added to the list if needed.
"As different platforms are created or young people move to different platforms, you can expect that we'll impose the ban or the delay on those platforms as well," he told Seven's Sunrise program.
Pinterest and Roblox remain exempt from the measures for now, and the eSafety commissioner said no further platform assessments would take place before the ban came into effect.
Meta will begin notifying teens they will lose access to Instagram, Threads and Facebook as early as December 4.
Underage users would be able to archive their existing accounts so they could access them again when they turned 16, the tech giant said.
