Kids' game given three months to bolster child safety

A children's gaming giant has three months to improve children's protections against grooming under an Australian legal agreement.

Roblox on Thursday received an enforceable undertaking following concerns about exploitation and abuse guardrails on its platform.

The eSafety Commission alleged the game was not meeting its obligations under the Online Safety Act's codes and standards.

Roblox does not have adequate measures to prevent contact between adults and under-16s, the office alleged. The company believed it met its obligations.

The platform's service standard also requires children's accounts to be set to private by default with accessible reporting procedures.

Commissioner Julie Inman Grant said her department had been engaging with Roblox "for some time at senior levels".

"The company has responded, making a number of improvements to its service," she said.

"Their executives clearly understand that verifiable safety measures are critical to their long-term viability and success.

"We want to ensure that any platform with a high preponderance of kids to be a safe place where they can enjoy the benefits of online gaming, creativity and connection, including building their own worlds and experiences online."

Roy Morgan research estimates there are about 1.7 million Australian children on the platform.

Under the agreement, the platform committed to better prevent adults from contacting unknown children without parental consent and to ensure children's accounts set to private by default.

Roblox also committed to implementing accessible report mechanisms notifying of complaint outcomes and agreed to engage a third-party auditor to assess its safety measures' efficacy.

It comes after the eSafety Commission tested the platform's guardrail claims earlier in 2026.

The testing found adults could send connection requests to children, and children's profiles were visible to others on the platform,.