Responding to a resurgence in gender-based violence and deaths in Australia, the National Cabinet has committed almost AUSD 1 billion to a range of strategies. Tackling “online harms” was among the new commitments, including the introduction of a pilot programme to explore the use of age-checking technologies to restrict children’s access to inappropriate material online.

Under-age exposure to adult content is considered to be a contributory factor to domestic violence through fuelling harmful attitudes towards relationships. Controlling access to adult material is also aligned with debate over access to social media sites and other age-related restrictions.