☕️ Will age verification work?

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“Liberal Party members really want to return to government… the way to get there is that we reflect what a modern Australia wants."
Liberal Senator Jane Hume speaking to ABC News Breakfast on Monday about her party's position on net zero, where the amount of greenhouse gas emissions produced is balanced with the amount taken out of the atmosphere. It comes after former Nationals leader Barnaby Joyce introduced a bill to scrap Australia’s legal commitment to reach net zero emissions by 2050.

6.1
The magnitude of the earthquake recorded in eastern Afghanistan on Sunday night (local time). Hundreds of people have been killed and many more are injured. Roads to earthquake-affected areas have been blocked by landslides, forcing aid to be delivered by air.

Deaf people talk in their sleep using sign language. A study of a 71-year-old Deaf man found he used fluent sign language in his sleep. Researchers were able to get an idea of what he was dreaming about thanks to his signing.

Single-use soy sauce fish are now banned in South Australia.

The state is slowly phasing out single-use plastics.

While the fish are made from a type of plastic that can be recycled, “their fiddly size makes [this] almost impossible,” according to Adelaide Hills Council.

The ban also includes plastic straws attached to food or drink products, e.g. on juice boxes/poppers.

State and territory governments are individually implementing gradual phase-outs of harmful plastic products.

So far, South Australia has banned several plastic items, including:

Plastic stickers on fruit and vegetables are the next product to be banned.

Reporting by Annabel Whitehouse.

The Government has released a report from a trial of age assurance technologies to enforce the ban on social media accounts for under-16s.

It found these technologies are “practical” and “achievable,” but have some “inevitable” issues.

The trial focused on verification (official documents), estimation (facial ID scans), and inference (online behaviours) as ways of determining someone’s age.

The Opposition has criticised the trial’s timing, saying the report has been released at “10 seconds to midnight”.

The Government’s ban on children under 16 using social media passed Parliament in November, following a public campaign to protect young people’s mental health.

Social media companies, including Meta (Facebook and Instagram) and Snap Inc (Snapchat) could face fines of around $50 million if under-16s make an account on their platforms.

YouTube was initially exempt, but has since been included. Messaging apps and online gaming platforms won’t be covered by the ban.

The ban is scheduled to come into effect on 10 December.

Enforcement will largely fall on social media companies, not individual users.

The eSafety Commissioner will need to provide guidance on the “reasonable steps” companies can take to stop under 16s accessing their sites.

The Government commissioned an independent firm, the Age Check Certification Scheme, to review the effectiveness of age assurance technologies.

The first method of age assurance would involve using official identity documents to verify a user’s age.

This could include passports, birth certificates, and photo IDs.

Driver’s licences could also be used. In most of Australia, the minimum age to receive a learners’ licence is 16.

Some third-party platforms require users to take a photo next to their ID in order to validate its authenticity.

Age estimation would require using scanning technology to detect someone’s age via facial, voice, and behavioural analysis.

More than 28,000 facial image tests were conducted in Australia as part of the research.

It found the ‘false rejection rate’ for those just outside the ban range were “above acceptable levels”. For 16-year-olds, it was 8.5%.

2.6% of 17-year-olds were mistaken for being under 16.

Age inference uses existing online data to determine someone’s likely age.

This could include scanning a person’s digital footprint, such as their email addresses and online behaviours.

It would also use official data to detect whether someone is over 16, such as matching a person’s ID with the electoral roll.

School enrolment data would also help determine if a teenager is covered by the ban.

The Government has flagged it needs to balance online privacy concerns with enforcing age assurance.

The report warned age ’inference’ technology may lead to an unethical level of data collection about individuals.

It also looked at accuracy issues.

The report said there was a “buffer zone” of about 2-3 years, meaning some 16 year olds could be misidentified as being 13, and vice versa.

The report noted “skin tone” could impact the tech’s effectiveness, finding “reduced accuracy for… non-Caucasian users”.

“Underrepresentation of Indigenous populations in training data remains a challenge,” the report stated.

It also looked at some of the ways kids could dodge age assurance, such as using VPNs (Virtual Private Networks).

VPNs change a user’s IP address to make it appear as though they’re in a different location. It said geolocation technology could circumvent VPNs by comparing someone’s IP address to their regional patterns.

The Government acknowledged there would not be a “one-size-fits-all” approach to rolling out age assurance.

Communications Minister Anika Wells said the report was evidence that “digital platforms have access to technology to better protect young people from inappropriate content and harm.”

Melissa McIntosh, the Opposition’s communications spokesperson, said the report has come at “10 seconds to midnight”. The ban is due to come into effect on 10 December.

Reporting by Harry Sekulich.

The small swap that makes a huge difference

FOGO (food organics and garden organics) bins are popping up across Victoria – and here’s the deal: your food scraps and garden clippings don’t belong in landfill. Toss them in the lime green FOGO bin instead, and they’ll be turned into rich compost for local farms and gardens.

And if you don’t live in VIC… compost is for everyone and it is easier than you might think!

✅ Yes please: food scraps, veggie peelings, coffee grounds, eggshells, garden clippings and more.

❌ Nope: plastic, packaging, glass, nappies, fruit stickers and other rubbish.

🍊 Kangaroos kick record AFLW score against Fremantle.
🍊 Piastri extends his championship lead at the Dutch GP. More details here.
🍊 ‘The Richies’ are hanging up the grey wigs. Read more here.
🗞️ Also in the Sport Newsletter: rugby, soccer, and more…

A University College London-led international trial assessed a new medication called ‘baxdrostat,’ by tracking around 1,000 patients with “dangerously high” blood pressure. After 12 weeks, nearly half the participants recorded healthier blood pressure levels. Overall, the drug was found to “significantly lower blood pressure” of patients for whom existing blood pressure medicines have not previously worked. Lead researcher Professor Bryan Williams called the findings “exciting” and said the results could “substantially lower [patients’] risk of heart attack, stroke, heart failure and kidney disease.”

Want more good news? Sign up to our weekly Good Newsletter here - we promise it’ll make your week better!

Reporting by Annabel Whitehouse.

The largest annual event for people with red hair was celebrated last weekend in the Dutch city of Tilburg.

The ‘Redhead Days’ festival has activities ranging from make-up and skin advice, to laughing workshops, and even musical chairs.

The organisers invite everyone – regardless of hair colour – to celebrate “connection, pride, and recognition.”

Reporting by Annabel Whitehouse.

In fewer than 100 days, under-16s in Australia will be banned from social media.

But a big question remains unanswered: how will the ban work?

The Government has released findings into age verification trials to stop children and early teens from creating social media accounts, including on YouTube, TikTok, or Instagram.

While it says the tech is “practical” and “achievable”, the findings show privacy and accuracy issues persist.

In today’s deep dive, we’ll take you through the findings looking at whether age assurance tech will bring about the first age-specific social media ban in the world.