Australia Bans Children under 16 from using Cell Phone Apps

By Sue Kientz

At midnight on Wednesday, December 10, 2025, all across Australia, children under 16 years of age were locked out of many social media accounts, due to a law passed last year that aims to protect them from online threats and encourage them to spend more time off their cell phones.(1) There is no legal penalty if Australian children or their parents ignore the law, e.g., by parents allowing their kids to access social media via the parents’ phone, but anyone under 16 cannot post using their own name or view their previously shared content. The social media companies themselves are responsible for preventing children from participating in social media until they reach 16 years of age, at which time their account access will be restored. The companies limiting social media for children are YouTube, Meta (including Facebook, Instagram and Threads), Snapchat, TikTok, Twitch, and Reddit. X (formerly Twitter) is supposed to comply but objects to the law. Other similar companies with cell phone apps are not (yet?) bound by the new Australian law, which is the first of its kind in the world.

Australia has reacted strongly and broadly before to what it considers a serious threat to its citizenry. The incident that comes to mind most, happened in April 1996, when 35 people were killed by a lone gunman in Tasmania, after which strict gun laws were enacted in mere weeks.(2) One might judge the seriousness (and success) of this current ban, by comparing it with the 1996 ban, and by that I mean comparing the affect of these two different moments in time using astrology, specifically by observing the different planetary influences now and in 1996 using the national chart of Australia.

First let’s look at Australia’s current government, founded January 1, 1901, nearly 125 years ago.(3) We find Sun (10 Capricorn) and Saturn (7 Capricorn), elevated in the optimistic Ninth House, both square (90 degrees, a challenge) dwarf planet Sedna (7 Aries) and trine (120 degrees, fortunate talent) Mars (11 Virgo). The Sun conjunct (0-8 degrees) Saturn, and both in Capricorn, doubly indicates a conservative (via Saturn and Capricorn) preference in stewardship and reliance on a strong executive to lead the country forward, even as the Ninth House placement signals the Australian Prime Minister will have a global perspective. Sun/Saturn square Sedna represents a firm work ethic for both Australia’s leader and people, with intense determination (Sedna) even through very hard times.(4) In fact, the years immediately preceding this new government were extremely harsh, as the populace suffered through a severe economic depression and widespread drought.(5)  Sun/Saturn trine Mars, however, shows that Australia is full of energy (Mars) and resourcefulness (Mars in Virgo – detail oriented and precise), indicating that challenges are met Down Under. Elsewhere in Australia’s founding chart, one finds Mercury (27 Sagittarius) conjunct Jupiter (25 Sagittarius) opposing (180 degrees, illuminating, partnering, or antagonistic) Neptune (27 Gemini) and dwarf planet Haumea (29 Gemini), which underlines the optimism (Sagittarius, especially Jupiter in Sagittarius), faith (Neptune), and can-do abilities (Haumea)(6) of Australians.

Using the above horoscopic “starting position,” we can now track the country’s development to its most important milestones using astrology’s Secondary Progression, which uses the planetary pattern unfolding in the days after a birth or country’s founding, with the days representing years. This means that when Australia enacted its 1996 firearms ban on May 10, 1996, the planets are moved forward 95 days to represent 95 years. Australia’s progressed Sun (15 Aries) is now conjunct p. Venus (9 Aries) and p. Sedna (8 Aries), and the trio squares p. Saturn (16 Capricorn) and Jupiter (12 Capricorn). On the supportive side, p. Sun is sextile (60 degrees, helpful) p. Pluto (15 Gemini) and trine p. Uranus (16 Sagittarius). The p. Sun/Venus/Sedna square p. Saturn/Jupiter all show Australia in crisis, with its prime minister represented by the Sun taking a difficult step (square Saturn) that nevertheless has support despite the difficulty (square Jupiter in Capricorn). The p. Sun’s sextile to p. Pluto and trine p. Uranus similarly signals support for his summary action (Pluto) of enacting a countrywide weapons ban that satisfies the great public outcry (Uranus).

Progressing further to the present Social Media Ban for under 16 year olds, the pattern moves forward 29 days for 29 years to see Australia’s progressed Sun (14 Taurus) conjunct p. Venus (16 Taurus), both trine p. Jupiter (13 Capricorn) and sextile large asteroid Pallas (14 Pisces). The country and its leader are concerned about tangible things (Taurus), desiring the country’s children have “real” experiences (Sun and Venus in down-to-earth Taurus, with supporting Jupiter in common-sense, practical Capricorn). Government and constituents fought the “righteous” (legal) battle (sextile to Pallas, as “fighting for right” was Pallas Athena’s aim, not military glory) and prevailed.(7) Only a semisquare (45 degrees, irritation, inconvenience that can be surmounted with effort) between p. Sun/Venus and p. Neptune (27 Gemini) and p. Haumea (29 Gemini) points to more work ahead to ensure better safeguards, exceptions for some cases as warranted, and other improvements. At this time, progressed Mars (28 Leo) is sextile p. Neptune/Haumea, signaling the will and energy is there to perhaps further transform (Haumea) the imaginative and creative virtual space (Neptune) that so many do use productively, wisely, and as sparingly as possible, in their daily lives.

Title Image credit: Image described by the author to ChatGPT (https://chatgpt.com/)

Notes and References

1. Yu, Yi-Jin, “Australia’s social media ban for kids under 16 goes into effect,” ABC News, 9 December 2025, https://abcnews.go.com/family/story/australias-social-media-ban-kids-16-effect/?id=128243002
2. Alexander-Hunt, Floyd, “Gun control: what makes Australian and US laws so different?” LSJ Journal, 26 July 2022, https://lsj.com.au/articles/gun-control-what-makes-australian-and-us-laws-so-different/
3. Greene, Liz, “The National Chart of Australia,” 1 January 1901, 1:25 p.m. GST, Melbourne, Australia, Astrodienst, https://www.astro.com/nat/natau_e.htm
4. Kientz, S., “Treasure from the Depths,” the Sedna chapter from More Plutos that appeared in The Mountain Astrologer, Feb./March 2015 issue, pp 63-70; https://moreplutos.com/articles/Sedna-SueKientz_MtAstrol-Feb-Mar2015.pdf
5. The exact square of Saturn (7 Capricorn) and Sedna (7 Aries) symbolizes the economic and weather catastrophes, with the Sun (10 Capricorn) moving away from the square figure representing the country emerging from that daunting period.
6. Kientz, S., “Pluto and Haumea: Having Power, and Using that Power,” 30 June 2015, NCGR eNews, Issue 215, https://moreplutos.com/articles/Pluto&Haumea-for-NCGR-News-WebVersion.pdf
7. Whiteman, H., and A. Watson, “Australia has just relieved its anxiety over teens on social media – or has it?” CNN, 10 December 2025, https://www.cnn.com/2025/12/10/australia/australia-social-media-anxiety-intl-hnk

For keywords and example personalities of the new dwarf planets, see “Dwarf Planet Basics,” 6 November 2024, ANS, https://astrologynewsservice.com/articles/dwarf-planet-basics/

For more details about the angles or relationships between planets, see Lynne Hyde’s “Astrology Basics,” 12 November 2024, ANS, https://astrologynewsservice.com/articles/astrology-basics/