Impactful Laws Passed Overnight in 2024: From Social Media Bans to Deportations – How Australians Will Be Affected

November 28, 2024 TruthUSA

The Australian Senate was working late on Nov. 28 passing over 30 bills.

In a 14-hour whirlwind of activity, Australia’s Parliament worked late into the evening on Nov. 28 to pass a mammoth 30 new laws, many of which have sat dormant for nearly a year amid ongoing debate.

Most of the backlog was cleared via collaboration between the centre-left Labor government and the Greens (who hold balance of power in the Senate), with the opposition Coalition refusing to support several proposals on policy and ideological grounds.

The Greens have also been more amenable to collaborating with the government following a lukewarm performance across several elections this year.

Here are some of the new laws that will govern Australians in the new year.

Under 16 Year Old’s Banned From Social Media

The big one that has garnered global headlines is the ban on social media use for children under the age of 16, passed with bipartisan support from Labor and the centre-right Liberal-National Coalition.

The Online Safety Amendment (Social Media Minimum Age) Bill 2024 is a “world first” in that it outright bans access to platforms like TikTok, Instagram, Snapchat, X, Reddit, and Facebook (YouTube is exempted).

Countries in Europe have implemented similar measures that are less strict, only requiring parental consent be given.

The Online Safety Amendment requires Big Tech firms to introduce some form of “age assurance” technology to make sure children do not access their platforms.

This needs to be done by late 2025.

The move is aimed at protecting young Australians amid spiralling cases of cyber-bullying, pornography access, youth crime, and other mental health related issues. The move also comes on the heels of Australian state governments banning smartphones from classrooms.

However, Coalition Senators Matt Canavan and Alex Antic opposed the bill and voted with the crossbench, noting concerns with digital privacy. Liberal Senator Richard Colbeck abstained from voting.

Thousands of Non-Citizens Face Deportation Risk

The Migration Amendment Bill 2024 includes a package of measures that will make it easier to remove non-citizens and also bolster security in detention centres.

The changes come after major High Court decisions forced the government to release about 200 migrant detainees—with criminal records—into the community, many of whom ended up committing criminal acts almost immediately.

The new laws allow the Home Affairs minister to ban visa classes for asylum seekers from blacklisted countries, permits the sharing of criminal histories on detainees with other jurisdictions, and allows the government to pay other countries to accept foreign nationals convicted of crimes.

A parliamentary inquiry suggested the visa situation for 80,000 non-citizens would change, but realistically about 5,000 individuals on bridging visas could be impacted with another 1,000 in detention.

The laws were backed by the Coalition and were heavily criticised by refugee groups, and the Greens.

Incentives to Build 80,000 Homes for Rent

The Build-to-Rent Bill 2024 introduces tax incentives for developers to construct 80,000 homes specifically for the rental market—most homes and apartments are packaged for sale.

Developments must consist of 50 or more dwellings, and remain under single ownership for 15 years, <...and so on...>….and so on….

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