Nine in Ten Top Adult Sites Now Check Ages in Australia, But VPN Workarounds Are Next on the Regulator's List

Key points

• Nine in ten of the 30 most-visited adult websites used by Australians now ask users to verify their age, as of mid-2025.
• New codes that came into force in March 2025 require adult sites, AI companion chatbots, and app stores to block anyone under 18 from pornography, extreme violence, or self-harm content.
• Australia's eSafety Commissioner is now assessing whether VPN use, which lets a device appear to be browsing from a different country, renders those checks pointless.
• The rules cover a wider range of services than adult sites alone, including AI chatbot platforms and app marketplaces.

Australia's online safety regulator, the eSafety Commissioner, has confirmed that 27 of the 30 most-visited adult websites used by people in Australia now show age verification screens before granting access. That is a meaningful shift from where things stood before March, when no such legal obligation existed.

The March 2025 codes are the mechanism behind this. They are legally binding rules, not voluntary guidelines, that require adult content platforms to check a user's age before showing pornography, extremely violent material, or content related to self-harm. The same codes apply to AI companion chatbots (apps designed to simulate human conversation and relationship) and to app stores.

The goal is simple: stop people under 18 from reaching that material.

Can teenagers just use a VPN to get around the checks?

Possibly, yes, and that is exactly what eSafety says it will look into next. A VPN, or Virtual Private Network, is a tool that disguises where your internet connection is coming from. It can make a device in Sydney appear to be browsing from, say, the United States, where Australian age rules do not apply. VPNs are legal and widely used by adults for privacy, but they are also easy to install and free in many cases, which means a determined teenager could use one to reach a site as if they were an overseas visitor.

eSafety has not said what action it would take if sites are found to be easily bypassable this way. The regulator is still in the assessment phase.

First reported by Guardian Australia, the compliance figures come from eSafety's own monitoring of the top 30 sites rather than self-reported data from the platforms, which gives the numbers some weight. Three sites in that group are still not compliant.

For parents and carers, the practical picture is this: age gates on websites are one layer of protection, not a complete solution. A child who knows about VPNs or borrows a parent's verified account can still find ways through. Parental controls at the router or device level, and open conversations about online content, remain the more reliable combination.

eSafety has not published a timeline for its VPN review. The broader compliance cycle for the March codes is ongoing.