Groups Push for Right to Sue Under Duty of Care
Digital Rights Watch and Wotton Kearney argue the proposed digital duty of care bill needs a private right of action for users.
Updated on Nov. 2, 2026 in Cybersecurity
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Digital Rights Watch and Australian legal services firm Wotton Kearney have submitted an updated joint submission on the proposed 2026 Online Safety Amendment (Digital Duty of Care) Bill. The submission argues the bill lacks a private right of action, leaving users without recourse if the regulator is under-resourced or slow to act.
Why it matters
The proposal would allow Australians to sue online platforms for breaching the proposed digital duty of care rather than relying solely on a regulator to enforce the law. The submission frames the gap as a risk to users if enforcement falls short.
The submission is a policy filing on the 2026 Online Safety Amendment (Digital Duty of Care) Bill, and no quantitative figures are reported. Whether the bill will include a private right of action remains unresolved.
The players
Digital Rights Watch
Digital Rights Watch is an Australian digital rights advocacy organisation that campaigns on online privacy, free expression and user protections.
Wotton Kearney
Wotton Kearney is an Australian legal services firm that has engaged in policy submissions on digital and online regulation.
The details
The updated joint submission, published on 2 November 2026, urges that Australians be allowed to sue platforms for breaching the proposed duty of care. It argues that without this right, users would have no recourse if the regulator is under-resourced or slow to act.
Timeline
2 November 2026: Updated joint submission on the digital duty of care bill published.
Roadmap
The submission targets the proposed 2026 Online Safety Amendment (Digital Duty of Care) Bill, which would set a duty of care for online platforms in Australia. Advocates are pressing for a private right of action as the enforcement mechanism for that duty.
If the bill is passed with a private right of action, Australian users could take online platforms to court for breaching the duty of care. Without it, users would depend on the regulator to enforce the duty.
The takeaway
A right to sue would give Australian users a direct enforcement path beyond the regulator. Watching whether the final bill includes it will show how much recourse users actually gain.
Further reading
Explore more Cybersecurity coverage for context on online platform obligations in Australia.
Source note: This article includes information reported by Mlex.
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