A unique national study to examine the impact of the Federal Government’s social media ban on families is being undertaken by The Kids Research Institute Australia, in collaboration The University of Western Australia and Edith Cowan University.
The research will recruit more than 2000 parents of young people aged nine to 15, before and after the implementation of the ban on 10 December 2025, to understand how the new laws are affecting families and if the ban makes it easier or more challenging for parents navigating their child’s social media use.
Professor Kathryn Modecki, Head of the Developmental Science of Mental Health team at The Kids, Future Health Research Infrastructure (FHRI) Distinguished Fellow and Professor of Psychological Science at The University of Western Australia, said the study was significant because it was using pioneering, best-practice methods to recruit a representative cross-section of families across Australia.
“This social media ban will be studied by policymakers worldwide, so it is critical we understand its impact and to do this we need rigorous, best-practice science,” Professor Modecki said.
“We will be seeking input from families across rural, remote and metropolitan Australia, with diverse cultural and ethnic backgrounds, to ensure we are representing the experiences of all families.”
Participants will be asked a series of questions before the introduction of the ban including how they currently oversee their child’s use of digital media, their knowledge of the social media ban and how they might be preparing for it.
After the ban is in place the research will examine if and how parents are changing their rules, if the new laws are helping or making parenting more challenging and what benefits or conflicts have arisen in the family as a result.
Professor Modecki, who is working with ECU’s Director of the Australian Indigenous Health InfoNet, Professor Bep Uink, to undertake the research, said parents could feel extremely uncertain and overwhelmed about how to handle the ban.
“The Kids has partnered with anti-bullying organisation, Dolly’s Dream, to deliver the Beacon app – an evidence-based cyber safety education app that provides parents and caregivers with trusted, tailored information to keep kids safe online.
“The app is constantly updated with international best-practice advice and trending topics on social media, and is a terrific starting point for conversations, or for considering your own approaches as a parent or carer.
“In the lead up to the restrictions, there are a number of tips parents and carers can follow. These include keeping the lines of communication open with their children.
“We also recommend having the discussion with your child about privacy and ensuring they understand the implications of sharing information and photographs online. For instance, if they are considering attempting to dodge the ban with changes to their profile or content—what does that mean in terms of their digital privacy on a larger scale?
“Finally, digital literacy. We know it’s hard to keep up with the constant updates in the digital world, and so evidence-based, reliable information and apps, like Beacon, are important to help parents stay on top and feel more empowered to make decisions and have conversations.”
When the new laws start, age-restricted social media platforms will need to take reasonable steps to prevent Australians aged under 16 years from creating or keeping an account. The eSafety Commission said Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, Threads, TikTok, X, YouTube, Kick and Reddit would be considered age-restricted social media platforms.
The restrictions were created based on a stated aim to protect young Australians from pressures and risks that users can be exposed to when using social media. Social media platforms may face penalties for not taking reasonable steps to prevent children under 16 years from having an account.
Professor Modecki said her research would target parents of children aged nine to 15-years-old via text messages to randomly selected numbers of people from that population group. Importantly, the invitation will read from The Kids Research Institute.
“Effectively, this is a ‘lucky dip’, with each parent having an equal opportunity of contributing to the study, meaning that we can extrapolate from these data to national-level findings about potential early effects,” Professor Modecki said.
The survey will take between 10-15 minutes, participants will receive $20 and best-practice privacy and data confidentiality is applied. All responses are anonymous. A second round of invitations will be offered mid-2026, with $30 remuneration.
The Kids is partnering with research organisation NORC at the University of Chicago to undertake the study.