Under a proposed arrangement tied to the passage of Labor's online safety legislation, residents of Australia would gain the right to take legal action directly against large technology platforms over harms experienced online. The Online Safety Amendment (Digital Duty of Care) Bill is one of several pieces of legislation scheduled for consideration as parliament returns to session.
Under the legislation, social media platforms would bear responsibility for keeping users aged under 18 away from content deemed harmful — including sexually explicit material, online bullying, and posts that celebrate criminal behaviour. Passage of the legislation now appears likely to draw Green support, after a provision granting the communications minister broad discretionary authority was stripped from the draft.
Greens senator Sarah Hanson-Young has put forward a position that the proposed legislation does not go far enough, calling instead for legally enforceable pathways allowing people harmed by online content to claim compensation directly from technology companies. Hanson-Young has argued that platforms are built around revenue models that keep users engaged in ways that produce harm, and that only financial penalties large enough to affect company bottom lines would bring about any real shift in how those platforms operate.
Advocates for the proposed digital duty of care legislation have argued that it requires a pathway for Australians harmed online to pursue compensation through the courts if it is to hold large technology platforms meaningfully accountable.
The government is separately weighing how to respond to a United States execution by firing squad, scheduled for December and anticipated to be broadcast live. Plans by the administration to broadcast the execution of Nidal Hasan, convicted in the Fort Hood attack, have drawn opposition in Australia, where voices have called for the proceedings to be halted.
Polling data gathered across several surveys points to a dip in One Nation's backing from the levels recorded at its recent peak, a backdrop against which the party's parliamentary return is taking place. Polling data from both Newspoll and Resolve placed the party focused on restricting immigration behind Labor on primary votes, and a separate DemosAU study commissioned by Capital Brief pointed to softening support for that party across the regional areas it has traditionally relied upon.
A survey of 9,740 Australian voters conducted across August and September put Labor on course for a narrow parliamentary majority, should an election have been called at that point. The model's headline forecast placed One Nation on a path to 24 seats, while the coalition faced a projected drop of eight from its existing total, leaving it with 34.
A scheduled visit by King Abdullah II of Jordan to Canberra is set to bring the Jordanian monarch together with Prime Minister Anthony Albanese on Tuesday. Armed conflict persisting across the Middle East forms the backdrop against which Jordan's defence relationship with Australia and its broader regional role take on added weight.
