Children’s advocates said they were disappointed a trial would be years away. “I’d like to see a greater sense of urgency for reform that will safeguard our most vulnerable children,” Children’s Commissioner Anne Hollonds said.
Countries across the world are taking steps to limit children’s access to online pornography due to concern about the amount of content on popular adult sites that involves violence and its link to real-life gendered violence.
E-Safety research found 75 per cent of 16- to 18-year-olds had viewed online pornography,and a third of those first saw it before they were 13. Delaying their exposure made it more likely they had the maturity to understand what they saw on screen wasn’t a script for real life.
So-called age-assurance technology can involve a “porn passport” based on government identification,such as in France,or less intrusive approaches such as biometric systems that use a selfie to estimate age based on a user’s face.
The e-Safety Commission was asked to develop an “age verification roadmap” by the previous government. Over two years,it consulted everyone from the adult industry to educators,examined the privacy issue and looked at potential technological fixes.
The roadmap,to be released publicly on Thursday,found age assurance technology was immature but developing,and said it should be trialled in Australia – drawing on experience overseas – before any steps were taken to mandate it.