‘Difficult Job’: eSafety Commissioner Honoured to Make a Difference in Lives of Young Australians

Julie Inman Grant revealed she had recently been doxxed.

Australia’s eSafety Commissioner Julie Inman Grant addresses the National Press Club in Canberra, Australia on June 24, 2025. AAP Image/Lukas Coch

eSafety Commissioner Julie Inman Grant has opened up about the challenges involved in the role, saying that despite the difficulties, she finds it very rewarding.

She has been receiving considerable media and social media attention in recent times due to her role overseeing the under-16 social media ban and online safety codes.

Inman Grant commenced her role in January 2017.

“I think if I make it to 10 years, that’s a pretty good run. I think it'll be time for someone else to take the reins,” Inman Grant said on ABC.

She explained her information had recently been shared online by neo-Nazi groups.

“It’s a very bruising role. I mean, I’ve just been doxxed again on Telegram by Australian neo-Nazis to a UK-based neo-Nazi group,” she said.

“So when it puts yourself, but mostly your family and your kids, in jeopardy, it does make you take a step back.”

Despite these challenges, Inman Grant said it was her honour to make a change in the lives of young Australians.

“It’s a difficult job. It’s also a privilege and an honour. I think we’ve made a real difference in young Australians’ lives in particular, we’ve made a difference,” she said.

“This is what I’m hearing from the European Union, from the Canadians, from everyone else that you know, we’ve set a standard in Australia, and I think that’s precisely what the social media minimum age bill does.”

Inman Grant expressed passion for rolling out the social media ban.

“I really want to be able to roll this out successfully for the government, but also get better outcomes for our kids,” she said.

“You know the changes here will be generational and it will be longer term, but again it’s been an honour to do it.

“I know that not everyone’s going to be happy. You’re either doing too much or you’re not doing enough. So in that way, it may be a little bit thankless, so it does require quite a bit of resilience and vision, so here we are.”

Social Media Ban Implementation

Inman Grant was confident the social media ban would be ready to go by the Dec. 10 deadline.

“I absolutely believe it is. This is not a secret to any of the companies. We’ve been talking to them for 11 months. You know, November [2024] was when the legislation was enabled. They know what they have needed to do,” she said.

Inman Grant separated social media companies into three groups: those that agree and will comply, those that disagree but will comply, and those that won’t.

“They know where we stand, but we have to be a fair and consistent regulator,” she said. “And there is a process of going back and back and forth, and this procedural fairness is really important again in making sure that all of this stands up in a court of law.”

Under the ban, platforms such as Meta, X, Snapchat, YouTube and Facebook will need to take reasonable steps to prevent Australians under 16 from having a social media account.

If they do not comply, they could face fines of up to $49.5 million (US$32.2 million).

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese recently promoted the social media ban at the U.N. General Assembly, receiving praise from European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, who said she would closely watch its implementation.

However, Shadow Communications Minister Melissa McIntosh has raised concerns about the powers of the eSafety commissioner.

“I am not going to back down when it comes to questioning the extensive powers of unelected officials like the e-safety commissioner. The job of an opposition is to hold the government to account, to be the voice of the people and to show strength in conviction,” she said on Facebook on Oct. 23.