We are consulting on the proposed legislative instrument that will give effect to the Australian Government’s “My Feed, My Way” initiative, providing users with more choice over content recommended by their social media feeds.
Why we want your input
On 12 September 2026, the Prime Minister and Minister for Communications, Anika Wells, announced the My Feed, My Way initiative. The department is seeking public feedback on the proposed legislative instrument that requires social media services to provide Australian logged-in users a choice of whether they want following only content in their feeds.How you can voice your opinion
Please read the exposure draft of the proposed legislative instrument below where you can also upload your submission.What will be the outcome of this consultation?
We will consider public submissions on the exposure draft, which will help to inform how we give effect to the My Feed, My Way initiative. Submissions may be published on the department’s website. The department will not consider feedback which contains abusive or offensive material.The issue
The Online Safety Amendment (Digital Duty of Care) Bill 2026 (Digital Duty of Care Bill) allows the Minister for Communications to require specified online services to provide “user empowerment tools” which give users the ability to manage how certain design features operate. It also allows the Minister to set requirements for how user empowerment tools function.
Once the Digital Duty of Care Bill receives Royal Assent, the Minister for Communications will be able to determine a user empowerment tool rule to give effect to the Government’s My Feed, My Way initiative. The rule will require social media service providers to offer Australian logged-in users with a choice of a following‑only content feed.
Commencement of this consultation process coincides with the Digital Duty of Care Bill’s introduction in Parliament. The government is seeking public feedback on how the rule implements the My Feed, My Way initiative.
Relevant documentation
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Participate
15 Oct 2026 09:00 AEDT
05 Nov 2026 23:59 AEDT
Open
days
remaining 21 of 22
We invite you to tell us your views on this topic.
Please include:
- contact name
- organisation name, if applicable
- contact details, including telephone number, postal and email addresses
- confirmation whether or not your submission can be made public—published—or kept confidential.
All submissions to be made public need to meet the Digital Service Standard for accessibility. Any submission that does not meet this standard may be modified before being made public.
If your submission is to be made public, please ensure you do not include any personal information that you don't want to be published.
If your submission is confidential, please ensure each page of the submission is marked as confidential.
Please click on the 'Have your say now' button below to upload your submission.
Alternatively please email your completed template submission to UERules@infrastructure.gov.au
Privacy Collection Notice
Exposure Draft—Online Safety (User Empowerment Tools) Determination 2026
Your submission, including any personal information supplied, is being collected by the Department of Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Development, Communications, Sport and the Arts (“the Department”) in accordance with the Privacy Act 1988.
Use
The Department may use your submission to inform consideration of issues relating to the implementation of the Government’s My Feed, My Way initiative, and the development of the user empowerment tool rule determination.
Disclosure
Unless marked confidential (see below) submissions (including the author’s name) may be published in part or full on the Department’s website or in any public response by the Department. When publishing, the Department will redact any personal contact details of the author.
Contacting You
The Department may use your contact information to make further contact with you about your submission and the consultation process.
Publication
Unless marked confidential (see below) submissions (including the author’s name) may be published in part or full on the Department’s website or in any public response by the Department. When publishing, the Department will redact any personal contact details of the author.
Confidentiality
Confidential submissions will not be published and will only be disclosed in the following circumstances:
- in response to a request by a Commonwealth Minister;
- where required by a House or a Committee of the Parliament of the Commonwealth of Australia;
- where necessary in the public interest; or
- where authorised or required by law.
Submissions will only be treated as confidential if they are expressly stated to be confidential. Automatically generated confidentiality statements or disclaimers appended to an email do not suffice for this purpose. If you wish you make a confidential submission, you must indicate this by ensuring your submission is clearly marked confidential. Even if a submission is not marked confidential, the Department may choose not to publish it, or any part of it, in the Department’s discretion (for example where it includes personal information or opinions about a third party).
Access
The Department will securely store your personal information and the Department’s privacy policy contains information regarding complaint handling processes and how to access and/or seek correction of personal information held by the Department. Further information is available on our Privacy page.
The department may use technology (including Artificial Intelligence (AI) tools) to support consultation on the exposure draft of the Online Safety Amendment (Digital Duty of Care) Bill 2026. This may include using AI to identify abusive or offensive language and summarise feedback, including any non-confidential response you provide that may contain personal information. These activities may generate or infer new personal information about you. However, this will only collect and use this information for the purpose of policy and legislative development. The department’s use of these tools will be governed by applicable Australian Government guidance on the responsible use of artificial intelligence, and outputs will be subject to review by departmental staff.