Australia's House of Representatives passed the Online Safety Amendment (Digital Duty of Care) Bill 2026 on October 28, placing AI chatbots under a broad legal safety obligation for the first time and setting maximum corporate penalties of up to A$109.2 million4,5.
The bill, introduced on October 15, creates a single digital duty of care that would replace existing industry-shaped codes and apply new safety standards across social media, games, apps, and chatbots1. Services would need to account for safety in product design and maintain systems to protect users under 18 from harmful material, conduct, and product features.
Chatbot intimacy and the political trigger
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese drove the legislative push with a speech on October 27 raising concerns about children treating AI agents as their best friend3. An amendment proposed by independent MP Kate Chaney classifies digital services that mimic emotional intimacy and create dependencies in children as potentially harmful content for minors2. The bill does not ban emotional attachment to AI outright but mandates that tech companies protect children from associated risks.
Communications Minister Anika Wells said chatbots were not social media and described the digital duty of care as a separate policy approach from Australia's existing under-16 social media restriction. Content encouraging misogyny, terrorism, suicide, self-harm, and eating disorders would also fall under the new framework, according to Wells. The bill would also require social media platforms to offer an opt-out feature for algorithm-driven suggested content.
Senate path and opposition
The bill now moves to the Senate, where the Environment and Communications Legislation Committee is due to report by November 20. The Greens support the bill, while the Coalition and One Nation voted against it in the House. Labor remains open to amendments and hopes to pass the legislation by the end of 2026, though its pathway through the upper house remains unclear.
Usage data framing the debate
A 2026 survey conducted between February 2 and March 4 among 1,950 Australian children aged 10 to 17 found that 78% had used an AI assistant and 8% had used an AI companion. Among children who had used either, 20% reported potentially inappropriate or harmful interactions, and 54% said they used the tools for personal or social reasons. Separately, an American Psychological Association survey found that 49% of adults who use AI said they conversed with it as a friend.
In 2025, Australia became the first nation to ban social media for under-16s.
ANALYSIS By imposing a general safety obligation rather than targeting individual platforms, the new framework shifts enforcement from product-specific bans to a design-level duty that could reach any chatbot service operating in the country.