From 10 December 2025, many social media platforms won’t be allowed to let kids in Australia under 16 create or keep an account. Now is a good time to talk to parents, grandparents and carers in your community about these changes.
Some key points you may want to share with them are:
- From 10 December 2025 Australians under the age of 16 will not be allowed to create or keep their social media accounts on platforms like Facebook, Instagram, Kick, Reddit, Snapchat, Threads, TikTok, X (formerly Twitter), and YouTube.
- The Australian Government is introducing these laws, aiming to give young people more time to have the skills and tools to be more emotionally, socially and digitally resilient.
Here’s some support resources and three ideas on how to use them to help you and your community get ready:
eSafety webinars
eSafety will be running 30 minute information sessions over November and December 2025 for parents, carers, educators and youth-serving professionals to help them understand the changes and why it’s happening.
Host a tea and webinar session
Connect parents and carers in your community with each other. Groups sessions are a great way for people to share ideas and problem solve together.
- Icebreaker: Once everyone is settled with their cups of tea, ask everyone to go around the room and introduce themselves and share one major topic about social media or games that their family is talking about.
- Discussion (Connect to topic): Share some key information about the social media changes and why it’s happening.
- Online learning: Watch the webinar on a big screen.
- Group discussion: Bring everyone back together to talk about what was covered in the webinar. Prompt a discussion! This is a great way for people to learn and problem solve together. Use open ended questions and encourage people to share what they learnt and any resources or tips they might have. Some example of open ended questions are:
- What are some things that you are worried about?
- Where do you go to get information about social media and games that your children are using?
- What are some tips that have worked for you and your family with managing screen time and being online?
- Share resources: Direct people to the eSafety website for information and guides if they want more information.
Digital skills covered in the session:
- Finding reliable information
- Online safety
eSafety website
Find helpful resources, information and guides to help you prepare to support your family, kids, and community.
Host an information treasure hunt
A useful way to share updates and information is running a group information session. But make it a little more fun and competitive, by turning it into a game! This is a great way for parents and carers in your community to get their questions answered, learn different ways to support their family and find useful and reliable information online.
- Icebreaker: Ask everyone to introduce themselves and share one thing about where they get information and updates about keeping their families safe online.
- Discussion (Connect to topic): Share some key information about the social media changes and why it’s happening. Talk about the reliable and up-to-date information on the eSafety website and the different resources they have.
- Online learning: In pairs, ask your learners to visit the eSafety website and find information about the social media age changes. Give them some time to navigate around the website.
- Practical activity: Information treasure hunt! Ask your learners to find the answers to 5 questions using the eSafety website. Think about the questions you’ve been hearing from your community. Use those questions as a guide to help with creating your information treasure hunt session! Some questions you might want to ask:
- What are the apps that will be included in the social media age changes?
- What other social media apps or games can kids under 16 use?
- What can my under 16 year old child do to prepare for the upcoming social media ban?
- Group discussion and prizes: Bring everyone back to share what they learnt and any questions that they still have. Ask them to share what resources they found helpful. Award a prize for the team who found the answers first!
Digital skills covered in the session:
- Finding reliable information
- Navigating to a website
Be Connected website
Be Connected released an explainer article on what the changes mean and answers to common questions.
Be Connected session discussion
Some of your learners may have grandkids or kids under 16 and want to know more about the social media age changes. During your Be Connected session, let them know about article they can find more information on.
- Icebreaker: Ask everyone to go around the room and introduce themselves and share if they have young people in their lives aged under 16 and if they know what they do online (neighbours, grandkids, kids).
- Discussion (Connect to topic): Share some key information about the social media changes and why it’s happening.
- Online learning: Ask them to go to the Be Connected website, find the article and read it on their own device.
- Group discussion: Talk through key points on the article and answer questions based on the info provided. Prompt a discussion! This is a great way for people to learn and problem solve together. Use open ended questions and encourage people to share what they learnt and any resources or tips they might have. Some example of open ended questions are:
- What are some things that you are worried about?
- How would you start a conversation with the young people in your life about what they do online and this change?
- Share resources: Direct people to the Be Connected and eSafety website if they want more information and to keep learning
Digital skills covered in the session:
- Finding reliable information
- Navigating to a website
- Using social media – intermediate
Don’t forget to record the support you gave your learners in the my.GoodThings website if you have a grant with us!