‘Everyone Is A Child To Some Extent’: What The Looming Children’s Privacy Code Changes Means For Advertisers
Publish Date: 2026-06-25 21:10:00
Source Domain: www.bandt.com.au
A Sydney-based data privacy lawyer and IAB Australia have warned marketers not to dismiss Australia’s looming Children’s Online Privacy Code (COPC) as something that only affects brands advertising to kids, arguing it could fundamentally reshape digital marketing for years to come.
The code, which is set to be finalised and registered by 10 December, introduces sweeping new protections for people under 18. Advertisers who get it wrong could face significant penalties of up to $3.3 million.
Among the proposed changes are restrictions on profiling children for personalised advertising, using platforms design to encourage them to hand over personal information or make impulsive purchases, and using a child’s personal information for direct marketing without verifiable consent.
However, according to speakers at IAB Australia’s Data & Privacy Summit in Sydney, the real impact will stretch far beyond child-focused brands.
“Children grow up, don’t they?” data and technology lawyer Tanvi Mehta Krensel told the crowd. “Whatever standards today’s children grow up with, as set under this code, will, like it or not, influence their expectations of privacy as adults.”
“I do think the fact that we have a code that’s developed far beyond the Privacy Act is important, because even if your brand is not dealing with children now, it may still influence your relationships with customers and your audience in the future.”
IAB Australia CEO Gai Le Roy agreed, urging advertisers to not to think of the reforms as a niche compliance issue.
“Even if you’re not dealing with children now, kids grow up,” Le Roy said. “The standards they’re raised with will influence their sense of privacy as adults. Everyone is a child to some extent.”
While the code is aimed at protecting children online, many of the concerns raised by IAB centre on how difficult it may be to separate children from adults in practice.
IAB Australia has lodged a detailed submission…
