Norton Rose Fulbright Australia assisted the online dating industry in Australia to develop a voluntary Code of Practice

Following a request from the Minister for Communications, the Hon Michelle Rowland MP, to the online dating industry, NRFA assisted in developing a voluntary code of practice (Code) that was finalised and submitted by participating Industry Members to the Australian Government by the 30th of June 2024. The drafting of the Code was a detailed process which included close consultation with the Office of the eSafety Commissioner, Department of Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Development, Communications and the Arts, and key non-government stakeholders.

The development of the Code was led by an Industry Working Group (IWG) including representatives from Match, Bumble, The Meet Group / Parshipmeet, eHarmony, Spark, Grindr and RSVP. NRFA drafted the Code on instructions from the IWG and engaged in extensive consultation with the Australian Government and other stakeholders throughout the drafting process.

As a voluntary code of practice, the Code sets out a number of key obligations that industry participants have undertaken to comply with. These obligations include annual reporting to regulators, standards of accessibility and safety across platforms. A copy of the Code can be found here.

The Code will commence on 1 October 2024 and there will be an initial transition period to allow for changes to participating Industry Members’ systems, processes and policies to enable them to comply with the Code. The ongoing administration of the Code will be managed by the Code Oversight Body which will be established from representatives of the participating Industry Members. The Code Oversight Body will shortly publish a Code website that will have a copy of the Code as well as other relevant documents and information.