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Six Big Law Shifts: How Australia’s 2025 Reforms Will Change Everyday Life
Australia enters 2026 with a suite of landmark legal changes touching work, family life, the environment, digital platforms and foreign policy, reshaping daily life for millions and signalling a more interventionist role for the law in emerging social debates.
Gig work, pets and pseudo-law
- New protections now allow rideshare and food delivery workers whose accounts are deactivated after at least six months on a digital platform to take an unfair deactivation claim to the Fair Work Commission, which can order reinstatement or compensation, curbing the power of apps to “switch off” workers without meaningful review.
- Amendments to the Family Law Act mean pets are no longer treated simply as property, with courts now required to consider how an animal was acquired, who has provided and will provide care, who paid vet bills, the level of attachment within the family, and any history of cruelty or family violence when deciding future ownership after separation.
- Courts have also moved decisively against so-called “sovereign citizen” and other pseudolaw arguments, with a Federal Court judge dismissing a high-profile handwritten IOU bid as “incomprehensible and legally meaningless”, underscoring that pseudo-legal theories have no standing even as authorities continue to monitor the movement’s security risks.
Recognition of Palestine
- Australia’s formal recognition of the State of Palestine on 21 September 2025 has been described by legal experts as one of the year’s most significant developments, conferring full legal recognition on a state that meets international criteria such as a permanent population, defined territory, effective government and the capacity to enter relations with other states.
- The move strengthens Palestine’s status in international forums, reinforces the Palestinian people’s right to self-determination and aligns Canberra with partners including the United Kingdom, France and Canada, after years in which Australia backed a two-state solution in principle but recognised only Israel.
Environmental penalties rise sharply
- Tough new amendments to the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act dramatically increase civil penalties, allowing authorities to fine corporations up to three times the value of any benefit gained or detriment avoided, 10 per cent of annual turnover (capped at $825 million), or $16.5 million, whichever is higher, for serious unlawful impacts on protected matters such as threatened species and ecological communities.
- Individuals now face penalties of up to three times the benefit or detriment avoided or $1.65 million, signalling that companies and executives who flout environmental rules do so at very substantial financial risk.
Under-16 social media ban
- From 10 December 2025, the Online Safety Amendment (Social Media Minimum Age) Act 2024 makes it unlawful for Australians under 16 to hold accounts on specified social media platforms, forcing services to verify users’ ages and exposing non-compliant platforms to fines of up to $49.5 million.
- The government frames the measure as a child-safety reform aimed at reducing exposure to harmful content and online predators, while critics warn it is heavy-handed, difficult to enforce and potentially unconstitutional, with at least one teenager mounting a High Court challenge arguing the ban breaches the implied freedom of political communication.
Community reaction and what’s next
- Young people, families, workers and activists are sharply divided over the social media age ban and other reforms, with some welcoming stronger protections and clearer rules while others say the changes risk driving problems underground or ignoring deeper issues such as bullying, mental health and economic insecurity.
- Legal commentators suggest 2025 will be remembered as a year in which Australian law asserted a more active role in regulating digital platforms, family life, environmental harm and international recognition, setting the stage for further tests in the courts and in public debate as these measures begin to bite in 2026.
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