WANGARATTA district educators - like families - are still awaiting detail and working to arm themselves with knowledge after the Federal Government's introduction of a world-first social media legislation aimed at protecting young people.
While Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has revealed this month that 16 will be the minimum age for young people being able to use social media under the legislation, exactly how that will be enforced is yet to be outlined.
Cathedral College Wangaratta principal Nick Jones said "landing on a specific age for this legislation was always going to be problematic".
"It could be argued that some 14-year-olds do have the maturity to responsibly engage in social media," he said.
However, he said once the legislation was introduced, it would be important to work with young people and the community to make it work.
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"I have no doubt that tech companies are already looking at ways to circumvent the proposed legislation," he said.
"As I have said previously, it will continue to be our responsibility to educate our young people and their families to support them to make their own good decisions online."
Wangaratta High School executive principal Dave Armstrong said the age verification aspect of the new legislation would be complex, for adults as well as the children it was designed to protect.
"I think this is something we need to pay a lot of attention to as citizens and as parents, the amount of time our young people spend on social media," he said.
"It's important that we don't rely on the legislation, and that parents remember they can and should have control over what our children are doing online.
"The eSafety commissioner offers really robust advice for parents to be well-informed, and there are plenty of experts who say parents should hold off as long as possible on allowing their children to have phones; 10/11/12 is way too young.
"Everything about devices and social media is engineered for addiction, and we should really remember that as parents particularly, we should have a lot of control. Parents think they have to follow the herd, but that's not the case.
"Parents don't have to give their child a smartphone, and even once they have them, there are parental control features that can be employed."
Galen Catholic College principal Darta Hovey said he would welcome more information to understand how the Federal Government would enforce the planned new standards.
"What supports are going to be given to families, schools, organisations and the community that are going to be realistic?" he said.
"I'm not against the legislation, but I'd like to see some detail."
Mr Hovey said he would like to see explanation of the planned legislation come from the eSafety commissioner, Australia's independent regulator for online safety.
The eSafety commissioner (https://www.esafety.gov.au) educates Australians about online safety risks and help to remove harmful content such as cyberbullying of children, adult cyber abuse and intimate images or videos shared without consent.
"To me, it's logical that the messaging should come from there," he said.
The Federal Government's decision to legislate 16 as the minimum age for access to social media followed consultation with young people, parents and carers, academics and child development experts, community, industry and civil organisations, First Nations youth, and state and territory governments.
The Bill, introduced to Parliament last week, puts the onus on social media platforms, not parents or young people, to take reasonable steps to ensure fundamental protections are in place.
The government says it will continue to work closely with stakeholders in the lead up to the commencement of the law, with a lead time of at least 12 months following the Bill’s passage to give industry, governments and the eSafety Commissioner time to implement systems and processes.
Minister for Communications Michelle Rowland said: "Introducing a minimum age for social media access is about protecting young people – not punishing or isolating them – and letting parents know that we are in their corner when it comes to supporting their children’s health and wellbeing."
