House Passes Duty of Care Bill After Labor Accepts Ban on AI Chatbots That Foster Children’s Emotional Dependence
The federal government’s digital duty of care legislation passed the House of Representatives on Wednesday with a new clause aimed at AI companion chatbots, after Labor accepted an amendment from independent MP Kate Chaney, The Guardian reported. The change targets material or conduct that simulates emotional intimacy and encourages or fosters a child’s dependence on it in place of human relationships.
A second Chaney amendment requires platforms to make the option to switch off algorithmic recommendations easy to find and use. Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has spoken about the risk of children treating a chatbot as their best friend, and the amendment gives that concern a legal hook. The Coalition and One Nation opposed the bill, and Communications Minister Anika Wells answered critics by telling them to bring an amendment, not a slogan.
The bill now moves to the Senate, where a Greens-led inquiry is due to report in late November. Greens senator Sarah Hanson-Young wants the law to give individuals a right to take private action against platforms. Independent MP Sophie Scamps has proposed a dedicated watchdog modelled on the Telecommunications Industry Ombudsman, and ombudsman Cynthia Gebert has said she supports the idea. The government wants the legislation passed before the end of the year.
What it means in practice
When the bill was introduced, it named AI services but left model testing out of the act. The Chaney clause narrows that gap for one use case. Companion apps and general chatbots that adopt warm, personal personas would need to show they are not encouraging children to replace friends and family with software. In practice that is likely to mean stronger age assurance, limits on romantic or exclusive language with young users, and design changes such as prompts that point children back to the people around them.
Drawing the line will be hard. Many legitimate tools use friendly language, and regulators will have to decide when encouragement becomes dependence. Parliament has heard a steady stream of evidence about online harms to young people, including the AFP’s warning that AI is speeding up youth radicalisation, which helps explain why the amendment drew support across the crossbench.
What to watch next is the Senate inquiry’s recommendations, whether a private right of action or a new ombudsman survives negotiations, and how the eSafety Commissioner would turn the emotional intimacy clause into guidance that companies can actually follow.