Impact of the Social Media Minimum Age Act on Australian young people and parents: protocol for a mixed-methods evaluation

Australia implemented the Online Safety Amendment (Social Media Minimum Age) Act 2024 (Cth ; SMMA) on December 10, 2025. This policy represents a world-first social media age-restriction, which requires age-restricted social media platforms to take reasonable steps to prevent Australians under the age of 16 from creating or keeping an account. Preliminary estimates suggest that approximately 1,194,000 young people should be affected by the deactivation of accounts. As the SMMA is enacted, we are collecting data to examine the outcomes for young people, parents, and families. This study protocol paper serves as a summary of the methodological design for the evaluation of the implementation and outcomes of the SMMA, including a) young people’s adherence, and the SMMA’s impact on b) their digital practices, c) their physical, psychological, and social wellbeing, d) their families, and e) community attitudes and dynamics.