ABOUT THE CODE
The Online Safety Code for dating services (Code) commenced on 1 October 2024. The Code is a voluntary industry code of practice which establishes safeguards to reduce the risk of online enabled harm to users of dating services operating in Australia.
The Code is consistent with the Australian Government’s expectations and its development was led by an Industry Working Group including representatives from Match Group, Bumble, The Meet Group, eharmony, Spark, Grindr and RSVP*. The working group engaged in extensive consultation with the Australian Government and other stakeholders throughout the drafting process, including external advocacy groups.
The Australian Government has no statutory powers to enforce compliance with the Code or seek the imposition of civil penalties on non-compliant dating services. However, the dating services which have signed up to the Code (Code signatories*) have agreed to comply with the obligations set out in the Code. These obligations include annual reporting to regulators, and standards of accessibility and safety across platforms. There will be a six-month transition period from 1 October 2024 to allow for signatories to the Code to implement changes to their systems, processes and policies to enable them to comply with the Code.
Bodies established under the Code
The Code Oversight Body is a body representing all Code signatories. A list of current Code signatories can be found on this website at Current Code Signatories*.
The Code Oversight Body has established the following bodies to assist with ongoing administration of the Code:
• the Code Compliance Committee is an independent body comprising three persons whose primary role is to consider complaints submitted through the website about a dating service’s contravention or alleged contravention of the Code; and
• the Code Secretariat supports both the Code Oversight Body and the Code Compliance Committee with their functions under the Code.
About the Code Compliance Committee
The Code Compliance Committee is an independent committee whose role is to:
• resolve Code complaints submitted through the website’s Code Complaint Form about a dating service’s contravention or alleged contravention of the Code; and
• review and either confirm or reject a dating service’s self-assessed compliance rating under the Code’s compliance rating framework.
The Code Compliance Committee comprises three persons appointed by the Code Oversight Body to be members of the Committee for a term of 12-months with no limit to the number of terms which each member may be appointed for. Members are appointed on the following basis:
• one member must be legally qualified and admitted to practice as a solicitor in an Australian jurisdiction;
• one member must have relevant experience in matters relating to public policy, public administration, online safety or sexual or gender based violence; and
• one member must have relevant experience in large-scale, social networking technology platforms.
The biographies of the current members can be found on the website at Code Compliance Committee Member Biographies.
Members must comply with the following:
• they cannot be an employee of a dating service at any time during their appointment; and
• they must declare any actual or potential conflict of interest as a condition of their appointment.
About the Code Secretariat
The Code Secretariat provides administrative and clerical support to the Code Oversight Body and the Code Compliance Committee, including maintaining this website.
You can contact the Code Secretariat by submitting a General Enquiry Form if you would like to know more about the Code or if you have any feedback about the Code or this website.
(* Current as of 1 February 2025)
Voluntary Online Dating Code
Lodge a complaint
Please use this form to lodge a complaint to the Code Oversight Body. For General enquiries, please use Contact Us.