While a review of Online Safety Act 2021 is not required until 2025, the Australian Government has committed to conducting this review within the current term of government, in recognition of the rapidly evolving nature of internet technologies.

While Scarlet Alliance understands and agrees that regulatory frameworks must be responsive to technological developments, we believe that this Review is premature. Australia’s National Classification Scheme is currently under review, with particular focus on the classification of sexual content, as well as which online content will be subject to the Scheme.

Further, the industry codes and standards for Class 1C (which includes restricted ‘fetish’ sexual content) and Class 2 (R18+ or X18+ material, including ‘mainstream’ pornography and other sexual content/information) material are yet to be developed. It is impossible to say how a regulatory framework is working when some of that framework is not yet in place.