The Government of South Australian and NSW Government partnered to deliver a two-day, two-state summit in October 2024, to explore and address the impacts of social media on children and young people.
Watch our highlights video for a wrap-up of both days of the summit.
The first-of-its-kind Social Media Summit was held on 10 October in Sydney and 11 October in Adelaide. It addressed mounting concerns among experts and the community about the adverse impact of social media on our children and young people, including exposure to content that negatively impacts children’s mental health and development.
The summit brought a diverse group of experts, policymakers, academics and young people together to explore key areas, including the impacts of social media on children and young people, online safety, social media's role in disinformation and misinformation, addressing online hate and extremism, and how social media is changing the way government delivers services.
Livestream
The event was livestreamed on both days. Sensitive topics were discussed during the summit – view a list of support organisations below if you need their help.
Day one of the summit in Sydney is available on the NSW Government website.
Video presentations
Day two of the summit included video presentations from Dr Jonathan Haidt, a social psychologist at New York University’s Stern School of Business, and the Honourable Mr Robert French AC, former Chief Justice of the High Court of Australia, and Chancellor of the University of Western Australia.
View the Dr Jonathan Haidt address
View the Honourable Mr Robert French AC address
Program
View the full program for day two of the summit in Adelaide (PDF, 1.1 MB), including speaker, presenter and panellist information.
Australia’s social media legislation
On 29 November 2024, the Australian Government passed legislation in Parliament setting a minimum age of 16 years for social media account ownership.
The Online Safety Amendment (Social Media Minimum Age) Bill 2024 requires social media platforms to take reasonable steps to prevent Australians under 16 years of age from having accounts, with significant fines in place for failing to do so.
The minimum age will apply to ‘age-restricted social media platforms’, which includes Snapchat, TikTok, Facebook, Instagram, X and others.
However, the reform will allow young people to continue accessing messaging, online gaming, and services and apps that are primarily for the purposes of education and health support.
Support organisations
Visit Beyond Blue or call 1300 22 46 36
Visit Headspace or call 1800 650 890
Visit Kids Helpline or call 1800 55 1800
Visit Lifeline or call 13 11 14
For more information about staying safe online, visit the eSafety Commissioner website.
Contact us
For any enquiries about the Social Media Summit, email dpcconsultation@sa.gov.au.
For any media enquiries, please email dpcmediaunit@sa.gov.au.
Related information
Read the We Are SA article The social dilemma: Summit hears of online dangers for more about the summit.
