Research which heard “significant trust and security concerns” from Australian consumers about age assurance technologies ahead of the country's planned under-16s social media ban has been released by the federal government, around six months after it received the findings.

The Australian National University’s Social Research Centre (SRC) was last year commissioned to carry out an Age Assurance Consumer Research Report by the Department of Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Development, Communications, Sport, and the Arts.

The research surveyed more than 3,000 Australian adults and 800 children between the ages of eight and 17 in October 2024.

The published version of the SRC's 85-page analytical report was completed in December 2024, before its technical report was completed in January 2025.

Both reports were released by the department on Tuesday night, alongside a brief dot point overview of the results completed by the SRC in June 2025.

Minister for Communications and Sport, Anika Wells, said the SRC’s findings showed Australians strongly supported the government’s plan to ban under-16s from holding social media accounts, under legislation planned to take effect this December.

While Wells's office, the department, and the SRC all declined to comment on the delayed release of the research, the department told Information Age the survey had “informed its ongoing work and engagement with stakeholders to progress the implementation of the Australian government’s social media minimum age”.

A possible contributor to the delayed release of the research was the federal government entering a caretaker period — which restricts some government and public service practices — from late March until Labor won a landslide election victory in early May, when Wells took over the Communications portfolio from Michelle Rowland, who is now Attorney-General.

However, there were still almost three months in which Rowland and the government could have released the findings prior to the election being called on 28 March.

The SRC’s research found around 89 per cent of adults and 90 per cent of children supported the use of age assurance technologies, but also found there were “clear concerns about implementation” of age assurance methods which Australians (including those over 16) may be forced to use to access social media, including using government IDs to verify age, biometric systems to estimate age, or data about online activity or shopping to infer age.

The government previously stated it was working with community organisations, industry, and relevant agencies as it worked out how to implement its social media age ban, with the preliminary findings of a separate government-commissioned trial of age assurance technologies expected to be released on Friday.

Most adults ‘very concerned’ about privacy and security

Around 77 per cent of adults surveyed by the SRC were “very concerned” about privacy and security issues surrounding age assurance technologies, with around half “very concerned” about their accuracy.

Privacy and security concerns were most prevalent among women and families with children, the research found, which were “amplified by past experiences with data breaches”.

With 52 per cent of adults surveyed having experienced a data breach, only four per cent of adults completely trusted online platforms to store their personal information securely.

Just over 87 per cent of adults said they would be somewhat or very willing to use existing government ID systems for age assurance, while fewer were comfortable using technologies such as biometric scanning (38 per cent) or online behavioural tracking (16 per cent).

While only 20 per cent of adults were aware of potential age assurance methods, 32 per cent of children demonstrated awareness of such technologies, the survey found.


The SRC survey asked Australians how willing they would be to use various types of age assurance technology. Image: Shutterstock

Around 46 per cent of children surveyed said they had been exposed to inappropriate content online, while the same proportion of adults said they had used existing age-based filtering or parental controls to protect their children from such content.

“The overwhelming support for public education (90.3 per cent of adults and 95.2 per cent of children) suggested a critical need for awareness initiatives to accompany any implementation of age assurance methods, with particular attention to vulnerable groups and those with higher digital engagement,” the research stated.

A separate survey of parents being run by researchers at the Australian Institute of Criminology (AIC) is currently underway, and will be run again six months after the social media age ban is implemented.

AIC Deputy Director Rick Brown told Information Age the survey would "aim to understand the nature of sexually motivated online harms experienced by children under 16, and how this relates to their use of social media and other online platforms".

Another survey conducted by the AIC will also ask between 5,000 and 10,000 high school students aged under 16 about "their use of social media, requests for sexual images, and experiences of image-based abuse" both before and after the ban begins, Brown said.

Social media platforms ‘must work harder’, minister says

Wells said in a press release on Wednesday that the SRC research showed Australians had “strong expectations of platforms when it comes to data protection and security”, and suggested “social media companies must work harder to build trust in their data management practices”.

“Our government knows social media age restrictions will not be the end-all be-all solution for harms experienced by young people online but they will make a significant impact,” she said.

“Social media companies have a social responsibility and the safety of young Australians is our priority.”

Wells’s office described the SRC research as constituting “a robust evidence case” for the government’s social media age ban, which was passed by parliament in November after a 24-hour timeframe for public submissions on the legislation.

Wells said she had written to eSafety Commissioner Julie Inman Grant for advice on the best way to implement the ban.

In its report, the SRC recommended “a careful, considered approach that prioritises user trust and safety while maintaining practical usability”, given the high level of support it found for age assurance but also the “clear concerns” from the public about the technology's implementation.