Following the launch of our 2024 Report to the Community, we're sharing highlights from our advocacy work over the last year; the achievements, the learnings and all the work that needs to be done in 2025 and beyond to continue the fight for children’s right to be safe.
Fighting for the right of children and young people to be safe is why we’re here. Our advocacy work amplifies their voices. In 2024, we focused on firearm safety and children’s rights in the digital environment.
Through this work, we have helped shape regulatory, policy, funding systems and legislative change – ensuring decision-makers have the knowledge needed to prioritise the safety and best interests of children and promote their development.
Firearm safety
We’re proud to have played a leading role in the advocacy that led to the Australian Government committing $161.3 million towards implementing the National Firearms Register in 2024. This was announced on the eve of the 28th anniversary of the Port Arthur tragedy – a powerful victory after three decades of advocacy for full compliance with the National Firearms Agreement.
The Register will provide a clear, coordinated, single source of information across all jurisdictions, assisting law enforcement agencies in protecting both officers and the community from firearm violence. Work on the Register commenced this year, with plans to be operational by 2028.
In 2024, our advocacy received significant recognition at the Operation Athena Privately Made Firearms symposium. At this event, representatives from law enforcement across Australia and New Zealand urged agencies, government, and industry to work together to address the serious threat posed by 3D-printed and privately made firearms. This symposium and a 7:30 Report exposé finally brought this issue into the public spotlight.
Children’s rights in the digital environment
At a time of intense public debate and parliamentary action on children’s experiences with technology, we have advocated calmly and consistently for a better digital environment – one where all of children’s rights to protection, participation, and provision are upheld. Our advocacy continues. In 2024, following strong advocacy by the Foundation and other civil society voices for children’s rights, the Australian Government committed to amending the Online Safety Act 2021 to introduce a Digital Duty of Care – a major step forward towards a digital environment that is safer by design.
Children’s Online Privacy Code
We lobbied hard in 2024 for the Australian Government to uphold the proposal of the Privacy Act Review report to create a Children’s Online Privacy Code to determine what digital platforms may and may not do with children’s personal information. Data handling lies at the root of many risks and harms children experience online. After months of advocacy, we were delighted when the Privacy and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 2024 passed parliament, enabling the creation of a Code in 2025.
What did we learn?
• There is significant multi-partisan will to make digital environments a better place for children.
• The relationship between commercial handling of children’s data and the safety risks children face online is still not widely discussed or understood in the Australian community.
How did we make change happen?
To support the proposal for a Children’s Online Privacy Code, we advocated directly to the Prime Minister, the Attorney-General, shadow ministers, other members of parliament, and the new Privacy Commissioner.
We presented to the Senate Standing Committee on Legal and Constitutional Affairs, referenced the need for a code in our advocacy on many related issues (such as social media age limits), and we were quoted multiple times in news media.
Read more of the outcomes, achievements and stories from the Alannah & Madeline Foundation’s work in 2024 in our 2024 Report to the Community.
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