Earlier this month, Australia’s eSafety Commissioner released a report highlighting concerns relating to a lack of child safety measures implemented by Roblox, Minecraft, Fortnite, and Steam. This comes following the legally enforceable notices issued to the four platforms on 1 April 2026, requiring them to provide information about their child-safety measures. The new report claims that significant gaps remain in child protection, despite these games adding small security improvements in several areas.
The regulator is now pushing for stronger overall protection, particularly for young players.
Safety Inconsistencies Found in New Gaming Report
The eSafety Commissioner remains unsatisfied with the changes that the likes of Roblox have made since the summer.
In the new report, it found inconsistent approaches from Roblox, Minecraft, Steam, and Fortnite in how they implement child protection measures.
Nine out of 10 children in Australia aged 8 to 17 now play online games in Australia, making it one of the world’s biggest nations for gaming.
“We’ll have to see what they actually deliver in the coming months and we can always take formal enforcement action if they don’t comply,” said Julian Inman Grant PSM during an ABC Radio interview, who is currently employed as the eSafety Commissioner.
“Australian children have a right to play online without being exposed to predators, sexual extortionists, violent extremist content or other harmful material.”
Ms Inman Grant claims that gaming providers must do better to protect children and that the new measures they’ve introduced this year following pressure are simply not enough.
In response, Roblox, which has a huge 381.8 million monthly active users, has responded by saying it “prioritises the safety of our Australian community, especially the youngest users”.
The report details how Valve, the company that owns games distributor Steam, has failed to introduce widely used gaming technology to remove potentially harmful content.
As concerns grow, The Australian National Imams Council (ANIC) says that known extremists are targeting young Australians on these online gaming platforms.
Roblox is the most controversial of the gaming platforms being targeted in Australia, largely because of its controversial gambling mechanics.
The game claims to have “clear policies” in place that ban actual or simulated gambling, yet scrutiny persists.
Those who play Roblox are being exposed to potentially harmful in-game spending features, including popular lootboxes, which generate much of the game’s revenue.
It’s also widely reported that the user-created games on Roblox also feature other gambling-like mechanics, such as prize wheels and random rewards.
The argument presented by Roblox is that its features technically don’t constitute gambling due to the fact the items are virtual and cannot be cashed out for real money.
It’s a similar business model to that of sweepstakes casinos in Australia, which remain completely legal (source: Dingosweeps.com), where players are able to bet virtual ‘Sweeps Coins’ and then redeem them for prizes.
Roblox itself is unlikely to be banned or kicked out of Australia, largely because of how popular it is, but it will remain under pressure from the eSafety Commissioner.
Australia’s Social Media Ban Seems to Be Failing
There’s been plenty of criticism surrounding the new report on social media, with many gamers accusing Australia of pushing too hard to regulate things.
It comes after the nation implemented an under-16 social media ban last year, which already appears to be failing.
Similarly, the social media ban was introduced to protect young Australians, yet eSafety’s published ‘Early days, early insights: Understanding experiences of social media age restrictions at the three-month follow-up’ revealed that 80% of young Australian teens are continuing to use banned social media platforms.
Gamers Down Under Should Expect Stronger Regulations to Come
Over the coming months, it’s largely expected that digital gaming platforms Roblox, Minecraft, Fortnite, and Steam will once again be pushed to improve their child safety measures. The eSafety Commissioner has said it will continue to monitor the platforms until then. Failure to comply could even result in certain age groups being banned from these games, although it remains to be seen what stance will be taken if satisfactory new measures aren’t introduced.
