By Danielle
Using the internet in Australia has just become a lot different.
Starting December 27th, internet users will be required to verify their identity to use search engines like Google and Bing.
Identity verification would include either scanning your face or uploading an ID as a logged-in user.
"Starting December 27, Australians will now need to upload their ID every time they're logged in to do an internet search."
"It's been put in place to stop kids engaging with adult content, but it actually affects all of us."
"It'll link to your digital ID, or you'll use… pic.twitter.com/dcGMVsOTs7
— Wide Awake Media (@wideawake_media) November 29, 2025
The Guardian wrote in July:
And it’s unlikely to stop there: the eSafety commissioner is considering rules for mandatory age checks across the entire internet landscape.
Whether or not you support the idea of age-gating the internet, this is a huge, unprecedented change. These are not small decisions; they will impact everyone who uses the internet in Australia – not just people under 16. There are implications for privacy, digital inclusion, access to information and online participation that go beyond the controversial teen social media ban. All of this warrants meaningful public debate.
If this is the first time you’re hearing about it, you’re not alone. Despite the significance of the changes, these latest rules are the result of industry codes, which differs to regular legislation. These codes don’t go through parliament. Instead, they’re developed by the tech industry and registered by the eSafety commissioner in a process called co-regulation. On one hand, this can be good: it can allow for more flexibility or technology-specific detail that is less appropriate in legislation. On the other: it creates risk of industry co-option, and by bypassing parliamentary process, can give an enormous amount of power to an unelected official (in this case, the eSafety commissioner).
Greens senator David Shoebridge has called the implications of age verification for search engines “staggering” and noted that “these proposals don’t have to go through an elected parliament and we can’t vote them down no matter how significant concerns are. That combined with lack of public input is a serious issue.”
The age verification policy development process has been littered with blunders that make a mockery of meaningful consultation and evidence-based policy development. It is particularly striking that these codes were drafted before the completion of the government’s $6.5m trial into the efficacy of age assurance. Later, the trial’s preliminary findings conceded the technology is not guaranteed to be effective, and noted “concerning evidence” that some technology providers were seeking to collect too much personal information.