In just a few months, Australians will face something unthinkable: you may need to hand over your ID just to use a search engine. That's right, the same Google search box we've relied on for decades will now demand "age assurance" before you can look up certain topics.
The government's line is simple: this is about protecting children from pornography and harmful content. A supposedly noble aim. But anyone who has lived through the last decade of digital regulation knows how this story goes. First it's "just" about protecting kids. Then it's about "misinformation." Then it's about "harmful speech." Step by step, we move from convenience to control.
What's really changing in December
By 27 December 2025, major search engines like Google and Bing must comply with new industry codes enforced by the eSafety Commissioner.
Logged-in users will be required to prove they're over 18, not just by typing in a birthday, but by some form of age assurance: a government Digital ID, a driver's licence, or other verification.
Logged-out users will be forced into a "kids' mode" by default. SafeSearch filters will blur or block certain results. You may still search politics, economics, or history, but if your research touches on "sensitive" terms, you could be locked out unless you cough up ID.
Companies that fail to comply face fines of nearly $50 million per breach.
Why this should alarm every citizen
Let's be blunt: for a 67-year-old researcher, a retired teacher, or anyone who isn't hunting for porn, this looks less like "protection" and more like humiliation. You'll have to hand over your passport to prove you're not a child, this is government paternalism gone mad.
And what about the principle? Australia does not have a First Amendment. Our courts have only ever recognised a narrow implied right of political communication. But if this creeping censorship is allowed to stand unchallenged, the High Court will eventually have to decide: is access to the modern public square, the search bar, part of the democratic right to debate?
The slippery slope we're on
The real danger isn't today's porn filters. It's what comes next. If government and corporate regulators get comfortable demanding ID to search for "prohibited" material, what happens when "prohibited" expands?
First: pornography.
Next: "harmful" speech.
After that: "misinformation" or "hate."
And finally: the rough-and-tumble of democratic politics itself.
What begins as safety ends as censorship.
The case for a High Court challenge
The implied right of political communication is fragile, but it exists. The argument is simple: if citizens cannot freely access information, how can they engage in political debate? Search engines are the gateway to the public sphere. Shutting that gate unless you flash your papers is not protection, it is a slow suffocation of democracy.
If there was ever a time to extend the High Court's doctrine, it is now. Otherwise, "safety" will become the velvet glove of censorship.
Australia is drifting into a world where convenience turns into compulsion, and compulsion turns into control. The government says "trust us." But in a healthy democracy, citizens don't hand over their ID to speak, to write, or to search.
The time to resist this creep is now, before December 27 quietly rewrites the meaning of free speech in this country.