Government details how social media giants will be expected to handle under-16s ban
Josh Taylor
The eSafety commissioner, Julie Inman Grant, is holding a press conference with the communications minister, Anika Wells, on the guidelines for the social media ban we reported earlier in the blog.
Inman Grant said that social media platforms from 10 December will be expected to take a “multilayered waterfall approach” for age checking, to ensure that government ID is never the sole or final choice for people to verify their ages.
The social media companies have been told their priority before 10 December is to focus on removing or deactivating accounts for those under 16.
The companies will also need to mitigate people potentially using virtual private networks (VPNs) to bypass the ban. Inman Grant says companies are already making moves on age-checking, including Tinder announcing face checks, Roblox using age assurance technology and Apple announcing it can provide more information to platforms as to whether users are over 13, 16 or 18.
Inman Grant said:
We also note this is going to be a monumental event for a lot of children. A lot of children welcome this, as it certainly parents to, but we know this will be difficult for kids and so we have also released today our commitment to protecting and upholding children’s digital rights and recognising that they, their parents and educators, will continue to need education and resources to prepare them for this moment and that is precisely what we are prepared to do.
Key events
Dan Jervis-Bardy
Treasury modelling one figure for emissions, inquiry hears
Treasury has been modelling one specific figure for a 2035 emissions reduction target, rather than a range of numbers, a parliamentary inquiry has heard.
Senior treasury official Alex Heath would not reveal the number in question but possibly let slip the modelling work was underway before the federal election in May.
Much of the speculation around the government’s soon-to-be announced 2035 target has centred on the prospect of a target range after the Climate Change Authority’s preliminary advice put a span of 65% to 75% on the agenda.
Fronting a parliamentary inquiry into the newly released national climate risk assessment on Tuesday, Heath revealed treasury has been modelling a specific target – not a target range, or various different numbers.
She said that was due to the “difficulty” in modelling a target range as opposed to individual numbers.
The nature of the modelling that we have done has a point estimate for 2035. I would refer you to the Climate Change Authority advice, which is explicitly the advice that the government is using to look at the potential implications of different targets.”
Asked when the work started, Health said she “genuinely cannot recall” and asked to take the question on notice.
The Greens leader, Larissa Waters, sought clarification after believing she heard Heath say “I think it was prior” (to the election).
Waters asked Heath if that was correct.
Heath responds.
I think that’s right but I would much prefer to take it on notice.”
Benita Kolovos
An update on the Victorian premier’s China trip
Jacinta Allan declared boosting international students is the top priority of her China strategy, which she unveiled at an event with Chinese and Victorian business leaders, diplomats and trade officials last night.
In the speech, Allan nominated her three priorities for the five-year strategy as “education, education and education”. According to a copy distributed after the event, she said:
Education has been our largest services export for 23 years running, and Melbourne has again been voted Australia’s best student city. Our international students hail from 175 countries. And one in every five is from China. From primary school to PhD, every single level of our public education system reaches out to your own … I want us to build the best education system in the world, together. That’s my project here in China.
Victoria’s China Strategy: For A New Golden Era is the government’s first China strategy since 2016. At the time, Daniel Andrews had sought to attract investment from China for the state’s infrastructure projects, double the state’s exports and boost tourism from the country.
But Allan said her strategy had “three big differences with its precursor”, including a focus on regional Victoria, “empowering” the state’s Chinese community and education. It forecasts that Chinese visitors will nearly double to 800,000 people by 2029 but contains no projections on future student numbers, which are ultimately controlled by the federal government.
She also made several references to her home town of Bendigo – “the Big Gold Mountain” – which saw an influx of Chinese migration during the gold rush.
NSW and Queensland to roll out free flu nasal spray for children under five
Both NSW and Queensland said this week children aged two to under five will be able to access a free intranasal influenza vaccine next year, a move health officials hope will help increase the uptake of the vaccine before the 2026 winter flu season.
The vaccine, called FluMist, would be the first non-injectable influenza vaccine to be available in Australia once it’s gone through the full regulatory approval process. It’s administered as a nasal spray and has been widely used overseas, with countries offering it seeing an increase in immunisation rates.
The vaccine is expected to be available privately for other age groups, depending on regulatory approval.
Queensland health minister Tim Nicholls said in a statement:
Our investment means that parents can avoid the anxiety of a needle injection for their young ones. Research has shown that six in 10 parents experience distress when thinking about vaccinating their child against influenza, and more than a quarter of young kids experience intense needle phobia.
NSW health minister Ryan Park said the program would provide “an accessible and convenient needle-free option for children and improve vaccination uptake ahead of the 2026 winter flu season”.
NSW fire and rescue working to contain area of hazardous air quality, Dewberry says
Adam Dewberry, from NSW fire and rescue, says it is unclear where the leak started:
At this stage, all we know is the air quality in the whole building – two levels – has been compromised.
A lot of the oxygen has been pushed out and, at this stage, carbon monoxide is a strong line of interest. But we’re also looking for other gases that could be in and around. It’s too early to speculate what else could be in there.
But what I can tell you is Fire & Rescue New South Wales, with our specialist firefighters, those hazardous materials experts, are using all the equipment they have on the truck to go through and take those samples and interrogate the air that they have collected and diagnosed to work out what we’re dealing with here.
Dewberry said all firefighters responding are safe.
Our firefighters are safe. Ambulance paramedics are still on scene. They’re providing overwatch for our firefighters that are wearing pretty heavy clothing, breathing apparatus, and working in those confined areas being in the building in room, and just in case something goes wrong, they’re there ready for us.
I know police have already started their investigations. They are on scene, and they’re also collecting the information that they need to conduct their investigations.
It’s still an operation that’s ongoing. We’ll just work here until we’re satisfied that the area is rendered safe and contained, stable, and it’s not going to get any worse – it’s all cleared up so those investigations can commence.
Carbon monoxide and ‘other products that you just can’t survive’ identified in Sydney gas leak, fire superintendent says
More from NSW fire and rescue superintendent Adam Dewberry about a fatal gas leak at a Sydney restaurant:
[We] responded to reports that a person had been rescued out of this building, non-responsive, unconscious, and was being resuscitated.
Unfortunately, they could not be revived. It was obvious to the first arriving emergency services, the air quality in the building was compromised. Firefighters wearing protective clothing, including breathing apparatuses, entered that structure with the gas detectors, and identified that there was a carbon monoxide in there and some other products that you just can’t survive in when you’re breathing that.
Where we’re at now is we’ve got our firefighters who specialise in hazardous materials on scene. They’re in the building. They’re actually taking samples. They’re diagnosing the air quality as they work to find out what the products are that are contaminating the air so we can determine where it’s coming from and shut it off and render the area safe.
The information that we can get can also help the hospital treat all the people that have been transported. But, more importantly, we do need to isolate this area so we can render the site is safe, and then those investigations can commence by New South Wales police.
Jordyn Beazley
More details on the gas leak at a restaurant in Sydney which has left one dead:
Adam Dewberry, Fire and Rescue NSW superintendent, said fire rescue is yet to determine the cause of the leak.
He said:
Hazmat crews are going through with various detection equipment to determine what the product is and how we can render is safe.
Greens question climate risk
During a parliamentary inquiry into the national climate risk assessment on Tuesday, the Greens’ leader, Larissa Waters, opens questioning on the prospect that 597,000 people could be at direct risk of coastal hazards by 2030.
Parent company of Rebel Sport and Supercheap Auto fires chief executive over workplace relationship
The parent company of Rebel Sport and Supercheap Auto has fired its chief executive and managing director over a workplace relationship, AAP reports.
Super Retail Group said on Tuesday it had terminated the employment of Anthony Heraghty “with immediate effect” and had lapsed his unvested incentives and vested but unexercised stock rights. The group said:
The board made this decision after receiving new information from Mr Heraghty regarding his relationship with the company’s former chief human resources officer. In light of his new information, the board has concluded Mr Heraghty’s prior disclosures were not satisfactory.
Heraghty had been Super Retail Group’s managing director since April 2015, and was given the additional title of CEO in February 2019, according to his LinkedIn profile.
Super Retail Group also owns Macpac and the chain of boating, camping and fishing stores known as BCF.
One person dead and six taken to hospital after gas leak at Sydney restaurant
NSW police said one person has died and six others – including five police officers – have been taken to hospital after reports of a gas leak at a restaurant in the suburb of Riverstone today.
Emergency services responded to the restaurant around 9.15am this morning.
Those taken to hospital are in stable condition.
Dan Jervis-Bardy
ACS did not personally brief PM on findings in national climate risk assessment
Australian Climate Service officials did not personally brief Anthony Albanese on the findings of its national climate risk assessment, the inquiry has heard.
Mason said her team briefed the prime minister’s office and the Department of Prime Minister & Cabinet (PM&C) – but not the prime minister himself.
Climate change department official Jason Munday said it was typical for PM&C to act as the intermediary that would run the prime minister through such a report.
Dan Jervis-Bardy
Back to the parliamentary inquiry into the national climate risk assessment
The Greens and others repeatedly accused the government of delaying the report’s release to bury its findings earlier this morning.
Vicki Manson, the head of the Australian Climate Service, said suggestions that the work was completed as far back as December were incorrect. She said a “working draft” was prepared in December but it was clear “we needed to do a bit more work”.
The [draft] was not for sharing with decision-makers with any confidence.
Manson said the finished assessment, and the full suite of materials accompanying it including 20 technical reports and an interactive website, was only finalised on 5 September.
She said a draft report was provided to the department and the climate change minister, Chris Bowen, in March 2025, which was used to gather feedback from across the government. Another draft was produced in July 2025.
The Greens’ leader, Larissa Waters, asked what changes were made from the July 2025 iteration to the final report two months later. Manson said:
It was quality assurance. There was no additional analysis from the July work. It was presenting the data in an appropriate way and ensuring that the information was presented in an understandable format. It was really our own quality assurance process.
Waters asks Mason if she advised Bowen to release the report immediately.
I provided the report and it was a decision of government when to release it.
Josh Taylor
Claims every user will be age checked is a ‘scare tactic’, eSafety commissioner says
The eSafety commissioner, Julie Inman Grant, says it has been a “scare tactic” to claim that every Australian will need to have their age checked.
The guidance released on Tuesday states the government does not want every user to go through age checking, claiming the use of AI, and the data the platforms collect on users can be used to infer ages for a lot of existing accounts, either by their interests or the age of the account.
Inman Grant said:
Adults should not see huge changes to the platform … We think it would be unreasonable if platforms verified everyone’s age.
It is worth noting that any new account registration after the ban comes in will require that account holder to go through an age check and while some companies like Meta do collect significant amounts of information on their users, companies like BlueSky have previously said they do not collect this information on their users ± meaning they would have to look at other methods.
On enforcement, Inman Grant says she does not expect every under-16 account to be gone by 10 December but she will be looking at systemic failures to apply the ban on their platforms. The commissioner’s office will engage informally with platforms that may be non-compliant before moving to the stage of potentially launching court action and seeking fines of up to $50m.
Inman Grant will be meeting with Apple, Discord, Character AI, Open AI, Anthropic, Google and Meta in Silicon Valley next week.
