Senate Environment and Communications Legislation Committee
8 November 2026
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Senate Environment and Communications Legislation Committee Parliament of Australia
Follow its sittings26:30 - 28:06
Speaker 1
open this first hearing of the Senate Environment and Communications Legislation Committee inquiry into Online Safety Amendment (Digital Duty of Care) Bill 2026. I begin by acknowledging the traditional custodians of the land on which we meet and pay my respects to the elders, past and present.
I extend that respect to any Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples here today. These are public proceedings being audio streamed live via the parliament's website and a Hansard transcript is being made. If there are no objections, the committee authorises media recording and photography in committee proceedings in accordance with Broadcasting Resolution 3, though for any media present or present during the course of the day, that permission can be revoked at any time and the media must follow the directions of secretariat staff. I remind all witnesses that in giving evidence to the committee they are protected by parliamentary privilege. It is unlawful for anyone to threaten or disadvantage a witness on account of evidence given to a committee, and such action may be treated by the Senate as a contempt.
It is also a contempt to give false or misleading evidence.
The committee generally prefers evidence to be given in public, but under the Senate's resolutions, witnesses have the right to request to be heard in private session. The Senate has resolved that an officer of a department of the Commonwealth or of a state shall not be asked to give opinions on matters of policy and should be given a reasonable opportunity to refer questions asked to the officer to superior officers or to a minister. This resolution does not preclude questioning about explanations of factual of policies or factual questions about when and how policies were developed. If a witness objects to answering a question, they should say the ground upon which the objection is made, and the committee will determine whether it will insist on an answer, having regard to the ground which is claimed. If the committee determines to insist on an answer, a witness may request the answer be given in camera.
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