Facebook and Messenger Roll Out huge Changes for Australian Users

If you're a young Aussie jumping on Facebook or Messenger today and thinking, “Wait… something looks different,” you’re not imagining things.

Meta’s rolling out its Teen Accounts across Australia starting today, automatically switching users under 16 over to the new setup. These accounts come packed with built-in safety features—think content filters, limits on who can message you, screen time alerts—all aimed at helping teens stay safe online and use social media more mindfully.

According to Meta, this is about giving teens more protection and giving parents a bit more peace of mind. And it’s not stopping at Facebook and Messenger—Instagram is next in line for more teen-friendly changes.

Over the coming months, new features will roll out there too, including:

• Live restrictions – Teens under 16 won’t be able to go Live without parental permission.

• DM image protection – Any image flagged as potentially containing nudity will get automatically blurred in a teen's inbox.

And the key thing? Teens can’t just switch these protections off. Changes require a parent’s okay.

Meta first introduced Teen Accounts on Instagram back in September 2024, and since then, they say over 54 million teens globally have been onboarded. Meta also claims that 97% of users aged 13–15 have kept the default restrictions on, suggesting they’re okay with the setup—at least on paper.

But not everyone’s sold. Some Aussie teens and online safety experts are questioning whether these changes go far enough. There’s concern the controls might not fully protect teens from harmful content or creepy online behavior—and that more meaningful oversight or education is still needed.

So, while Meta’s pushing this as a big win for digital wellbeing, the jury’s still out on how effective it’ll actually be. Either way, if you're under 16, your social media experience just got a bit more curated—whether you asked for it or not.