What is the social media ban?

Australia is preparing to introduce major changes to how young people use social media, including a national ban for children under 16 from 10 December 2025.

The announcement has sparked a mix of relief, confusion, and frustration – and plenty of questions from parents, teachers, and young people themselves. This is unsurprising. Social media is now woven into how children connect, learn, and express their identities. It can offer creativity, belonging, and support, but it can also expose young people to stress, comparison, and pressure.

A ban may ease some of these pressures, but it won’t be a magic fix. What will matter most is how families, schools, and communities prepare for the change and support young people through it. Below is a clear overview of what we know so far, along with practical guidance for navigating this transition.

Where things currently stand

The federal government has passed new legislation requiring social media platforms to take “reasonable steps” to prevent children under 16 from creating or using accounts. While the intention is clear, what it looks like in practice is still being worked out.

Age-verification technology, privacy concerns, platform compliance, and likely workarounds (such as fake birthdays or the use of VPNs) mean the rollout will be gradual. Families can expect a transition period where restrictions tighten over time.

Why the government is taking action

Concerns about children’s social media use have grown significantly over the past decade. Research indicates that earlier and heavier exposure to social media can be associated with poorer mental health outcomes, disrupted sleep, increased experiences of bullying, and higher levels of anxiety and depression.

While not every child experiences difficulties online, these patterns of risk are well-documented, and many parents feel overwhelmed by the pace of change and the difficulty of keeping their children safe.

The proposed ban is a response to these concerns, shifting community expectations, and increasing evidence that early adolescence is a particularly vulnerable period for online harms.

Why age sixteen is significant

Before age sixteen, key areas of the brain, particularly the prefrontal cortex, are still developing. This part of the brain is responsible for judgment, impulse control, planning,   organisation and emotional regulation.

During early adolescence:

  • Reward-seeking systems are highly active
  • Impulse control systems are still “under construction”
  • Emotional reactivity is heightened

This imbalance makes young people more sensitive to the highly stimulating and attention-grabbing features of social media platforms.

Features such as endless scrolling, notifications, likes, and algorithm-driven content, can be addictive and influence how young people perceive themselves and others. For developing brains, these mechanisms can influence mood, shape self-esteem, and identity formation, and for some children may be associated with increased anxiety, stress, and difficulty managing emotions.

Social media can also disrupt sleep patterns, which are crucial for learning, memory consolidation, and emotional processing.

What this ban won’t fix

While the ban aims to reduce exposure to online harms, it will not eliminate them entirely. Teenagers are resourceful, and workarounds such as the use of VPNs, fake birthdays, or using older siblings’ or friends’ accounts are likely to occur. Some young people may also migrate toward less regulated platforms that lack age safeguards or oversight.

And importantly, the underlying social pressures that can drive social media use, such as fear of missing out, peer comparison, and the desire for social validation, do not disappear simply because an app is restricted.

Similarly, turning sixteen does not automatically equip young people with the skills to navigate social media safely.

If we rely on the ban to do all the work, we risk missing the deeper goal: helping young people build digital literacy, online safety behaviours, emotional regulation, and critical thinking. Children and adolescents still need active guidance, support, and ongoing conversations about healthy online habits to navigate these pressures safely.

Supporting healthy screen use and navigating age restrictions

  • Show genuine interest in their screen use:
    Take time to understand what your child enjoys about the apps, games, or platforms they use. Ask open-ended questions about what they like, who they interact with, and why certain activities are important to them. Approaching screen time with curiosity rather than only focusing on the negative helps your child feel heard and encourages more honest communication. It also gives you valuable insight into their motivations, social connections, and potential risks, allowing you to guide them more effectively.
  • Set clear, consistent boundaries:
    Work with your child to establish shared agreements around screen-time times (e.g. meals, before bed), device-free zones (e.g. bedrooms), and expectations for online behaviour and privacy. These boundaries should apply to all screen use, not just social media, including video platforms like YouTube, which are not currently included in the ban. Collaborating on these limits provides a realistic middle ground, as strict or sudden rules are often met with resistance. Establishing healthy patterns early helps children carry these habits into adolescence, including for teenagers affected by the social media ban.
  • Encourage engaging offline activities:
    Support hobbies, creative interests, sports, social activities, and unstructured play. These experiences provide meaningful rewards and foster resilience. Frequent participation in offline activities is associated with lower rates of problematic tech use, improved mental health, emotional regulation, and resilience – supporting balanced development and overall wellbeing.
  • Model healthy habits as a parent:
    Children learn far more from what we do than what we say. Demonstrate balanced device use, take breaks, and talk openly about how you make decisions around technology. When healthy habits are modelled consistently, children are far more likely to adopt them themselves.

For more tips and guidance, see Parenting SA’s Safe Screen Use guide and Orygen’s ScrollSafe toolkit.

Supporting healthy screen use in schools

Classrooms increasingly rely on screens for learning, making it essential for students to develop skills to manage technology responsibly.

Schools can support healthy use by:

  • Embedding digital literacy and online safety education.
  • Teaching how attention‑capturing features work.
  • Providing device-free learning periods.
  • Offering hands-on, collaborative activities that engage students offline.
  • Supporting emotional regulation strategies.

Evidence from a 2025 systematic review and meta-analysis shows that school-based interventions can significantly reduce problematic digital use in children and adolescents (Žmavc et al., 2025).

Working in partnership with families creates a consistent message and offers young people the best chance to develop balanced, healthy technology habits.

Conclusion

The proposed social media ban highlights a broader need to think critically about how children engage with technology, not just what they should be kept away from. While this change in government policy can provide an important framework to support young people, meaningful change is shaped by the everyday guidance, boundaries, and open conversations that help them build confidence, critical thinking, and resilience online.

Partnership between families and educators is the key to ensuring children are best equipped to navigate digital spaces safely, manage peer pressure, build confidence, critical thinking, and resilience online. Ultimately, the ban may offer structural support, but consistent, informed guidance at home and in schools will most powerfully shape how young people use technology responsibly.

Looking for support for your young person?

As young people adapt to new online rules and the pressures that come with them, having a safe space to talk can make all the difference. Solasta offers warm, evidence-based psychological support to help teens build resilience, manage stress, and feel confident both online and offline. Visit solasta.net.au/appointments-and-referrals to request an appointment.

Additional resources

What’s going on?

For young people

For parents

About the author

Jake Slack, Registered Psychologist

Jake is a Registered Psychologist dedicated to supporting young people to navigate life’s challenges and improve their mental wellbeing. He incorporates evidence-based approaches, including Cognitive Behavioural Therapy and Dialectical Behaviour Therapy, to tailor therapy to each client’s unique needs.

His passion for mental health led him to pursue a career in psychology, driven by a desire to make a meaningful impact in people’s lives. While completing his studies, Jake gained valuable experience as a Behaviour Support Practitioner and Support Worker, broadening his understanding of mental health care across different settings. Through this work, he recognised the linkage between psychological wellbeing and physical wellbeing, motivating him to further his training in Clinical Psychology.

With a client-first approach, Jake creates a compassionate, inclusive space where individuals feel heard and supported. His focus is on equipping clients with practical skills to manage their mental health effectively and build resilience for the future.