Social Media Bans, Deportations: Key Laws Passed Overnight That Will Impact Australians in 2025

In a 14-hour whirlwind session, 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.
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.
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.
Developments must consist of 50 or more dwellings, and remain under single ownership for 15 years, with 10 percent allocated for affordable housing.
Modelled on the Biden administration’s Inflation Reduction Act, the Australian version will see government-backed entity, Export Finance Australia, invest about $22 billion over the next 10 years in renewable and critical mineral projects.
The goal is to grow Australia’s local advanced manufacturing industries independent from China.
The previous voluntary Code governed relations between supermarkets and suppliers, and will become mandatory from April 2025. The Code itself will remain unchanged.
It also provides a $4.3 billion Support at Home program covering clinical care, such as nursing, and assistance with daily tasks like cleaning or gardening services—with no limit (cap) on how much the government will cover.
The Sydney Airport Demand Management Amendment Bill 2024 allows the minister to temporarily increase flight limits at Sydney Airport during operational disruptions.
The airport is subject to curfew and can conduct 80 take-offs and landings per hour, this would be increased to 85 under the temporary powers.
The new law also shifts responsibility for managing the Slot Management Scheme from the manager to the minister, while introducing $99,000 fines for airlines misusing “slots.”
The government says any future changes to super legislation must be judged against this objective—making policymakers more accountable when considering changes that affect Australians’ retirement savings.
The Coalition opposed the bill, accusing Labor of politicising superannuation.
“Some of the legislation passed last night had 2023 attached to it—that’s the hint for how long it has been around,” he told ABC the day after.
The prime minister pointed to a bill updating references to Queen Elizabeth in Australian laws to King Charles III.
“I would have thought that should have passed the Senate in a minute after it was introduced, but ‘no,’” he said.
Independent Senator Jacqui Lambie accused the government of rushing complex bills without sufficient debate.
Simon Birmingham, Leader of the Opposition in the Senate, said it was “unprecedented” and “extraordinary.”
“To ram 41 bills through in a single day is extraordinary and shameful,” Birmingham said, citing his 18 years of Senate experience.