CANBERRA — Australians over 16 could soon decide whether feed-ranking systems shape their main social-media feeds, according to legislation released by the federal government on Sept. 8.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and Communications Minister Anika Wells issued the exposure draft of the Online Safety Amendment (Digital Duty of Care) Bill 2026.
The government has branded the package “My Feed, My Way.” Targeted consultation is under way before the bill is introduced to Parliament.
New and existing users would be prompted to choose how their primary feed operates: personalized algorithmic recommendations, or material from friends and creators the user has chosen to follow.
The setting is not permanent. It can be changed at any time.
The bill stops short of prescribing those two feed settings. It instead authorises the communications minister to require specified online services to offer “user empowerment tools,” giving people control over design features that include recommended material.
The government stated the feed choice would take effect through that power.
A statutory digital duty of care under the Online Safety Act 2021 underpins the rest of the bill. Covered services would have to identify and manage risks arising from the way their products operate.
That would mean written risk assessments, measures to address the harms those assessments identify, records of the steps taken, and checks that the measures still work.
Non-compliance could bring penalties of up to $109.2 million, enforced by the eSafety Commissioner.
A recommender draws on information tied to a user’s account to choose material for display.
That choice sits apart from the features that keep a person on the service. Staying logged in, loading content without end, reacting to user feedback and imposing time limits are treated as capable of addictive use among children.
Platforms would face a harder duty where children are concerned: they must address design features tied to addictive use or damage to self-esteem.
The child-safety clauses cover pornography, disordered eating, hostility toward women and gender equality, crime, dangerous stunts and other harmful practices. For users under 18, they also cover abuse, harassment, bullying and material capable of causing serious psychological distress.
The burden is on the platforms to answer the risks their services create, not on individual users to manage those risks alone.
For adults, the point is control over the online experience. The tool gives the user, not the platform or a regulator, the decision. Adults face no new content restrictions beyond existing illegal material.
More than 40 meetings in May and June found broad support for the duty. Industry, safety groups, advocates for vulnerable communities and academic specialists in technology and online safety also raised algorithmic amplification, privacy, freedom of expression and proportionate obligations.
A further round of feedback has been sought from digital platforms, industry groups, civil-society organizations and advocates.
The legislation remains under preparation.
Should Parliament pass the bill, those provisions would wait 12 months after royal assent before they apply. Expanded powers for the eSafety Commissioner would commence sooner.
Whatever text reaches Parliament will settle its final form.
