Communication Minister Anika Wells is set to introduce revised Digital Duty of Care laws following heavy criticism that her initial draft left too much power in the hands of the minister.
The legislation to enhance online safety will be tabled in Parliament on Thursday with an aim to push the onus on tech companies to proactively protect against online harms.
The centrepiece of the laws will be Labor’s “My Feed, My Way” initiative, which says users should be given the choice to opt-out of algorithmic feeds served up by tech companies.
The Communication Minister is expected to declare a scale back of the initial controversial powers which were listed in a September draft during a National Press Club address on Thursday.
Those powers would have granted her - or whoever the responsible Minister was - the authority to determine “serious harm” beyond the categories explicitly listed in the draft, such as child sexual abuse material and grooming, threats and harassment, sexual or extreme violence, suicide and self-harm content, terrorism, criminal activity, illicit drug use, and abhorrent violent conduct.
A catch-all category in the Act would have been a window for the Minister to add other material or conduct she determined a “serious harm” without requiring a formal parliamentary amendment to the Act.
In extracts from the press club speech, seen by The West Australian, Ms Wells insisted she had listened to concerns in the consultation prior over her powers.
“To make this abundantly clear, we have removed the ministerial rule-making power to define new harms in the final bill,” she’s expected to say.
“New harms can be added by Parliament through legislative amendment.”
The Coalition says while protecting Australian children from harm is critical, the laws in their current form were also an attack on free speech online which gave the minister “unfettered” powers.
Shadow communications minister Sarah Henderson has launched a “kill the bill” petition, insisting it was a “Trojan horse” for “political censorship”.
It’s a view shared by One Nation and prominent American free speech activist journalist Michael Shellenberger.
While the Greens have been open-minded and haven’t ruled out supporting the legislation.
New Greens leader David Shoebridge has, however, made a string of demands including for tougher regulation, higher fines and a private right of action to allow individuals to sue major tech platforms for harm suffered online.
Senator Shoebridge will have only hours to decide on Thursday whether the Greens agree with the revised bill and whether to send it to a Senate inquiry before the final sitting week in November.
The NSW Senator, who was recently elevated to leader, has long called for the digital policy. In December 2025 had even said his party would vote for it “in a heartbeat through the Senate” if it was “meaningful”.
In extracts from the press club speech, Ms Wells also vows to ensure “professional news” online receives a special carve out.
“While there are protections in the Online Safety Act for journalists and news media, we have clarified this in the legislation… by including a specific carve-out for professional news material to remove any doubt and to protect public-interest journalism,” she states.
Ms Wells will seek to present a solution that offers choice to Australian online users - to either turn off the algorithmic feed or stay and scroll through what big tech offers up.
“And if you’re happy to stick with your algorithm – you can do so,” she’s expected to say.
“The Digital Duty of Care gives Australians choice.
“If someone wants their feed filled with friends and creators they follow, the social media platforms must give them that choice.
“Through My Feed, My Way, social media platforms will have to provide user empowerment tools that give people over the age of 16 choice about what they see in their feed.”
Under the changes, under 18s must be protected from content and features that are harmful to young people.
It will include eating disorder encouragement, content which glorifies crime or dangerous stunts, pornography or things which promote hostile ideas about women and gender equality, and content which causes serious distress, including abuse and bullying.
The Digital of Duty of Care was first proposed by former Communications Minister Michelle Rowland in October 2024 and was a key recommendation of a review of the Online Safety Act.
The policy isn’t a new concept with similar laws in the United Kingdom and European Union.