List of media issues analyses published post-September 2025

Should those under 16 be banned from social media?

On November 28, 2024, Australia passed legislation making it the first country in the world to ban those under 16 from accessing some social media platforms.
The legislation is supported by 77 percent of Australians as a desirable measure to protect young people from risks associated with social media; however, it has been criticised by many experts and the Australian Human Rights Commission. There are also concerns as to whether a ban can be effectively implemented.
Methods of implementing the ban are being trialed from January 2025 and the ban is expected to be in place by early next year.
Debate around the issue continues and is likely to intensify as the implementation date approaches.



Should Australia use nuclear power to reduce greenhouse gas emissions?

On September 23, 2024, the leader of the federal Opposition, Peter Dutton, gave a speech to the Committee for Economic Development of Australia. He reiterated the Coalition's position that, as it moves away from coal and gas, Australia needs to include nuclear power to 'firm up' renewables in its energy mix.
The Coalition is planning to build seven nuclear reactors on the sites of current or former coal-fired power stations.
The Coalition's proposal has been condemned by the government, many climate scientists, and others as prohibitively expensive, unachievable within the necessary timeframe and a destructive diversion from renewables.
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Should Australia cull more saltwater crocodiles?

On October 2, 2024, Queensland MP Robbie Katter criticised the Queensland government's moderate stance on crocodile culling and condemned the state's revised Crocodile Management Program as a 'load of croc'.
On 22 May 2024, Katter's Australia Party introduced the Crocodile Control and Conservation Bill 2024 into the Queensland Parliament. The bill called for crocodile culling in populated areas in Queensland and Indigenous-led crocodile trophy-hunting enterprises. On 1 July 2024, the Bill was ruled out of order and withdrawn.
The issue is far from resolved. There remain critics of the Queensland government's restrained crocodile management program and of the management program recently adopted in the Northern Territory which allows the removal of 1,200 crocodiles a year.

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