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Young people say proposed age ban of 16 ‘plucked from the air’
Josh Taylor
Young people have expressed frustration that the proposed age for teens to be banned from social media at 16 appears to have no evidentiary backing and seemed to be “plucked from the air”.
The opposition leader, Peter Dutton, said the Coalition will ban teens under 16 from social media if the party wins the next election, while the Albanese government is exploring an age ban between 13 and 16. News Corp’s campaign for the age ban has also suggested 16 is the appropriate age.
However, the eSafety Youth Council and Reach Out Youth Advocates criticised this proposal, speaking to the parliamentary committee examining social media. Sina Aghamofid, a Reach Out youth advocate, said:
I just don’t know where that age has come from and what the evidence is to support that and whether that’s effective … it seems like it’s just a number someone’s plucked out of the air and it sounds good. Politically, it’s a great age.
But I haven’t really heard the reasons [why] we’ve come up with this age and what the evidence is for this kind of age.
Layla Wang, a Fellow Reach Out youth advocate, indicated it was unfair that children can get a job before 16 but face being banned from social media, and said parents may use the ban to keep tighter controls on their children.
Aghamofid added that the age of criminal responsibility is as low as 10 in some jurisdictions and young people did not understand where the 16 age limit came from:
Nearly every single young person I’ve spoken to has agreed that they just don’t understand where this is coming from and in the context of these other things that are in place for under 16-year-olds, it just doesn’t make sense to young people.
Key events
Man to face court over 2022 death of baby boy in Coffs Harbour
A man will face court today charged after the 2022 investigation into the death of a baby at a home in Coffs Harbour.
About 8am on Monday 23 May 2022, emergency services were called to a home in Coffs Harbour after reports a two-year-old boy was unresponsive inside.
The infant was taken to Coffs Harbour health campus in a critical condition, before being airlifted to John Hunter hospital.
Detectives from the Coffs/Clarence police district attended and established a crime scene.
On Tuesday 25 May 2022, the boy died in hospital.
Strike Force Kielwarra was established by detectives who investigated the circumstances surrounding the boy’s death.
Whitehaven Coal avoids a board spill as activists protest outside AGM
Australia’s leading coal producer has avoided a board spill as activists staged a colourful protest at its annual general meeting, AAP has reported.
Climate activists protested outside Whitehaven Coal’s meeting in Sydney on Wednesday, when clean energy lobbyists Market Forces attempted to lead a shareholder revolt against the company for a second year.
But the 12.93% vote against the remuneration report fell well short of 2023’s first strike, when 41% of shareholders voted against it, and the 25% required for a board spill motion.
More than 40% of shareholders voted against Whitehaven’s proposed remuneration package for the chief executive, Paul Flynn, worth about $7m, and 19% against the re-election of the chair, Mark Vaile.
Vaile told the meeting the company had engaged with shareholders after the 2023 vote to understand their concerns about the remuneration report.
He said the incentive plan remained fit for purpose and the company rejected Market Forces’ allegation it was over-incentivising coal production growth compared to other miners and driving executives to pursue risky, long-life projects.
Whitehaven reported $3.8bn in revenue for the 2024 financial year and $1.4bn in earnings, including $272m from the Daunia and Blackwater mines.
There have now been 39 days in Darwin over 35°C this year.
From Blair the guru as we now have 39 days in Darwin over 35°C for the year…
“there had never been a year over 30 before 2019 but it’s now happened in 5 of the last 6 years. (1961-1990 mean is 9.9, 2019-2024 mean will be over 40).” https://t.co/BFCWfz4Dx7— Andrew B. Watkins (@windjunky) October 29, 2024
Reserve Bank rate cut news stops share market winning streak
The Australian share market has snapped a three-day winning streak as analysts pushed back expectations for a Reserve Bank rate cut, AAP has reported.
The benchmark S&P/ASX200 index finished Wednesday 68.8 points, or 0.83%, lower, at 8,180.4, while the broader All Ordinaries fell 66.4 points, or 0.78%, to 8,439.5.
Annual headline inflation for the September quarter fell to 2.8% from a year earlier, according to the Australian Bureau of Statistics, within the RBA’s target range.
But underlying inflation was still at 3.5%, leading money markets to slash the odds of a pre-Christmas rate cut and Commonwealth Bank economists to push back their rate cut prediction to February.
Cait Kelly
Good afternoon
Hello everyone – this is Cait Kelly, I will be with you on the blog for the rest of the afternoon. Let’s get into it.
Young people say proposed age ban of 16 ‘plucked from the air’
Josh Taylor
Young people have expressed frustration that the proposed age for teens to be banned from social media at 16 appears to have no evidentiary backing and seemed to be “plucked from the air”.
The opposition leader, Peter Dutton, said the Coalition will ban teens under 16 from social media if the party wins the next election, while the Albanese government is exploring an age ban between 13 and 16. News Corp’s campaign for the age ban has also suggested 16 is the appropriate age.
However, the eSafety Youth Council and Reach Out Youth Advocates criticised this proposal, speaking to the parliamentary committee examining social media. Sina Aghamofid, a Reach Out youth advocate, said:
I just don’t know where that age has come from and what the evidence is to support that and whether that’s effective … it seems like it’s just a number someone’s plucked out of the air and it sounds good. Politically, it’s a great age.
But I haven’t really heard the reasons [why] we’ve come up with this age and what the evidence is for this kind of age.
Layla Wang, a Fellow Reach Out youth advocate, indicated it was unfair that children can get a job before 16 but face being banned from social media, and said parents may use the ban to keep tighter controls on their children.
Aghamofid added that the age of criminal responsibility is as low as 10 in some jurisdictions and young people did not understand where the 16 age limit came from:
Nearly every single young person I’ve spoken to has agreed that they just don’t understand where this is coming from and in the context of these other things that are in place for under 16-year-olds, it just doesn’t make sense to young people.
Patricia Karvelas to host Afternoon Briefing
Patricia Karvelas is set to host the ABC’s afternoon political show Afternoon Briefing from next year, taking over from reporter Greg Jennett who will move to presenting the ACT 7PM News.
Karvelas will still present Q+A and weekly political wrap The Party Room, as well as write analysis for ABC News online. Karvelas said:
I’m so excited to be anchoring a daily national affairs and politics program, especially at a time when Australians are seeking not just accountability but explanation of really complex issues. Afternoon Briefing has become appointment viewing and is a key part of the news agenda daily.
Being able to launch a podcast which is fast and responsive and engaging on moving political stories has been my dream.
It’s how I consume content and I know there’s a strong desire from our audience for non-appointment content that meets people in their headphones when it suits them.
CBA reads the room: RBA won’t cut interest rates this year
Peter Hannam
Australia’s biggest bank, CBA, had been a bit of an outlier, holding out the hope of a Reserve Bank interest rate cut this year.
No longer, it seems. Gareth Aird, the CBA’s head of Australian economics, has just put out the bank’s take on today’s CPI figures.
The retreat in underlying inflation – down to 3.5% in the September quarter from a year earlier, and holding steady at 0.8% on a quarter-on-quarter basis, didn’t recede fast enough to justify an RBA cut in December, as the CBA had previously predicted. (The other big three banks had pencilled in 2025 for the first cut for a while.)
“We look for the first 25bp rate decrease in February 2025,” Aird said. “Our expectation is that the disinflation process will continue over Q4 24 and the board will view February 2025 as the most appropriate time to commence cutting rates.”
Then again, it’s hard to know what might happen in the US (or elsewhere) in the final months of 2024. Let’s hope there aren’t rate cuts for some very bad reasons.
Community funding will help break disadvantage cycle: treasurer
Federal funds being used to provide more localised support to disadvantaged people will help make Australia fairer, the treasurer says.
The commonwealth will spend almost $20m over five years to establish partnerships for local action and community empowerment, which will help design and deliver programs that address issues like youth development, health, education, employment and youth justice.
The government will partner with local communities to develop solutions to these complex social issues. The initiative is expected to help hundreds of communities and thousands of Australians within its first five years.
The treasurer, Jim Chalmers, said the funding would help to stop disadvantage flowing across age groups. He told reporters in Melbourne:
We’re working very closely with philanthropic organisations and governments at all levels and local communities to try to see the change that we want so that disadvantage doesn’t concentrate and cascade through the generations.
There’s not just some switch that you can flick to eliminate disadvantage in our country, you need to begin where we can make the most difference, and that’s what we’re doing.
– Australian Associated Press
Trauma surgeons sound grim warning on dangers of e-scooters
Children as young as five are ending up in hospital with e-scooter and e-bike injuries as officials warn growing use could further clog emergency rooms.
As NSW contemplates how best to legalise the electric transport devices, doctors are urging MPs to impose strict regulation – including bans – on riders aged under 16.
More and more children are arrive in emergency room after crashes in a “very sharp increase” in 2024, SV Soundappan, a trauma specialist at Westmead children’s hospital, told a parliamentary inquiry on Wednesday.
Common injuries include soft-tissue complaints and fractures along with significant head injuries, complex fractures, brain bleeds and internal organ injuries.
The inquiry continues on Wednesday, two days after the NSW government revealed its draft plan to overhaul rules for e-scooters.
Along with legalising the scooters, which are officially barred from use in public areas of the state, the proposed changes include a ban for under-16s along with mandatory helmets and a 0.05 blood alcohol limit. The e-scooters would be allowed on bike paths and shared pathways as long as riders gave way to pedestrians and stuck to 20km/h speed limits.
Soundappan said speed limits on shared paths should be 10km/h, to lower the risk of collisions with pedestrians – if e-scooters were allowed to be used there at all.
The trauma chair of the Royal Australasian College of Surgeons, Vikram Puttaswamy, predicted an increase in major injuries without stricter rules governing the use of e-mobility devices.
“They would then come to our emergency departments and also increase the amount of morbidity and mortality we are already seeing … in a significantly stretched hospital system,” he said.
John Crozier, a trauma surgeon, urged parliamentarians to prioritise the needs of pedestrians when reforming laws.
“The devices are powered with electric motors and should be regarded as motor vehicles,” he said.
– Australian Associated Press