Transcript: ABC Radio Adelaide - under-16 social media ban
Australia’s under-16 social media ban is now in effect. AMA SA Vice President Dr Louis Papilion joined ABC Radio Adelaide Morning host Rory McClaren to discuss the mental health implications, the need for support frameworks and why GPs must be central to the response.
Transcript: AMA SA Vice President Dr Louis Papilion on ABC Radio Mornings with Rory McLaren.
(10 September, 2025)
Subjects: mental health, social media, general practice
Rory McLaren: You’re joined now by Dr Louis Papilion, Vice President of AMA SA. Louis, welcome.
Dr Louis Papilion: Thanks for having me, Rory.
Rory: Louis, you’ve put out a release this morning calling on all sides of state politics to commit to greater mental health care and education for children affected by the social media ban, which starts today. What are your concerns?
Dr Papilion: We do have a couple of concerns, but I want to say upfront that AMA SA is broadly supportive of this legislation. It’s great to see South Australia leading in this space. However, anytime you have good policy, there are trade-offs and consequences.
One concern is that we anticipate a short-term surge in demand for mental health services. Many young people have their entire communities online, and this is especially important for marginalised groups—such as the LGBTQ community and culturally and linguistically diverse communities. We expect some of these young people will feel quite lonely and cut off because of the ban.
Rory: So your reservation, from an AMA perspective, is that children may fall through the cracks as a result?
Dr Papilion: Absolutely. Sometimes these children prefer to seek advice anonymously. They may not feel comfortable going to their parents or teachers—especially if they’re still coming to grips with their own identities.
Rory: Is the mental health aspect what you’re most worried about?
Dr Papilion: Absolutely. We have some suggestions for the government to consider to improve access to affordable mental health services for young people.
Rory: What would that look like?
Dr Papilion: Firstly, the most important person in anyone’s mental health journey is their GP. We want both sides of politics to commit to investing in community care by funding GPs to stay open longer and after hours. The Liberals have already committed to this policy, and we’d like to see Labor do the same. Another key point is that with planning underway for the new Women’s and Children’s Hospital, we want to see a commitment to more mental health beds for child and adolescent services.
Rory: Stay on the line, Louis. Quite a few people are texting in and calling in. We have Pauline on the line. Pauline, let’s talk about this because you want to share why you think this is a good idea.
Pauline: Yeah, I think it’s a very courageous and brave idea because it is counter-cultural. I was talking to my 15- and 14-year-old granddaughters on the weekend about it, and they both said they feel relieved that the decision’s been taken out of their hands. They spend far too much time on it.
I do understand that some young people will feel isolated and lonely, but that’s actually the problem—they’ve spent so much time on their phones that their only means of communicating and feeling connected is through these devices, not real relationships. Taking it away exposes that issue.
Rory: Do you agree with what AMA has been putting forward about the need for guardrails and additional supports?
Pauline: Absolutely. When we make change, we need a support framework alongside it. Young people are presenting with anxiety as young as seven—I saw this when I worked at Centacare. If removing social media causes anxiety, we need parallel programs: information for parents on how to discuss it, school-based conversations, even though teachers already have a lot to do. This is real—it’s an addiction we’re removing, and any removal of addiction causes high anxiety.
Rory: Pauline, thank you for your contribution. Another text here from Arthur, which I’ll put back to you, Louis. Arthur writes: What happens when children go to bed and take their phones with them? Do parents know what they’re doing behind closed doors? That’s part of the challenge here, isn’t it?
Dr Papilion: Absolutely. From a personal perspective, my kids are younger, so it’s easier to enforce. But we do not allow any devices in bedrooms, full stop. It’s too hard to monitor activity otherwise, and you don’t know what they’re doing.
Rory: Dr Louis Papilion, AMA SA Vice President, thank you for your time this morning.
