Australia has lost the plot on tech regulation

Has Australia has gone from a world-leading trailblazer to being over-cautious on the tech policy front? (Image: Getty)

Wed, 20 Aug 2025

For years, I’ve held up Australia as an example of what a small country in the South Pacific can do when it decides to be bold about technology regulation. The News Media Bargaining Code? A global first. Whether or not it worked, it certainly forced Google and Meta to pay attention. The Privacy Act updates? They beefed up the law to introduce huge fines for companies found to be negligent and cracked down on internet scams. The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission has done great work scrutinising the power of Big Tech....

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