Tutela Team  ·  Published August 2026  ·  Last reviewed 5 August 2026

Most parents land on this question somewhere around Year 5 or 6. The school bag gets left behind one week, and the next week they're catching the bus home on their own and you're wondering how you'd reach them.

There's no age that answers it. A steady 11-year-old can be more ready than a scattered 14-year-old. So the more useful question isn't when, but whether your kid can handle what comes with a phone.

In short: a child is readier when they can look after their things, stick to agreed rules, put a screen down when time's up, spot an obvious online risk, and come to you when something's wrong. If they need a way to reach you before all that's in place, a calls-and-texts phone or a locked-down device is a sensible first step. The checklist below helps you work out where your kid sits.

One thing that's changed

Since 10 December 2025, certain social media platforms have had to take reasonable steps to stop Australians under 16 from creating or keeping accounts. The obligation sits with the platforms, not with children or parents. It reduces one real area of risk, but it doesn't remove the wider questions that come with a first phone.

It also hasn't closed the door. eSafety's July 2026 evaluation found account ownership among under-16s fell from 52.4% to 42.1% in the first three months, while the share still using social media at all barely shifted, from 85.9% to 81.5%. Among kids who kept their accounts, the most common reason was simply that the platform never asked them to confirm their age. The rules also stop under-16s holding accounts, not viewing content: publicly available posts, including public videos on YouTube, can still be watched without logging in.

So a phone still opens that door, and the decision is still yours.

Do they actually need one?

“Everyone else has one” is real social pressure and worth taking seriously. On its own, though, it isn't readiness.

A stronger reason is practical. They walk to school. They catch a train to sport. They go to things without you and someone has to sort out pick-up.

And it isn't only a choice between a smartphone and nothing. A basic call-and-text phone, a kids' smartwatch or a heavily locked-down handset can cover the need for contact without handing over the internet on day one. One caveat worth checking: some feature phones still have a browser or apps, so confirm what a given device actually allows before you count on it.

The readiness checklist

How your kid handles the technology they already have is the best guide you've got. The Raising Children Network suggests the same starting point: look at whether your child is responsible and reliable in other parts of their life.

Go through this with them. Nobody scores full marks, and they're a kid, but the overall shape will tell you something.

Responsibility

☐  Keeps track of their belongings most of the time

☐  Looks after shared devices like the family tablet

☐  Remembers their own school gear without a reminder every morning

Self-control with screens

☐  Can stop when asked, without it turning into a fight every time

☐  Sticks to agreed screen-time limits

☐  Isn't regularly using devices after everyone's asleep, or working around restrictions

Honesty

☐  Tells you the truth after a mistake

☐  Would come to you if something online upset them

Basic online sense

☐  Understands that photos and messages can stick around forever

☐  Knows people online aren't always who they say they are

☐  Knows not to hand out personal details or passwords

☐  Knows how to block calls and messages from people they don't know

☐  Knows not to open unexpected links or reply to suspicious messages

Boundaries and behaviour

☐  Can accept a household rule even when they disagree with it

☐  Will agree to phone-free times, and the phone sleeping outside the bedroom

☐  Will ask before downloading apps or making in-app purchases

☐  Understands that being respectful counts in group chats and games too

This is a conversation starter, not a test, so read the overall picture rather than the exact tally:

Ready to start: the honesty, safety and boundary items are mostly there.

Ready, with limits: they need a way to reach you, but some skills are still coming. Begin with limited features and regular check-ins.

Not yet: real concerns remain around honesty, night-time use, unsafe contact, or refusing any boundary at all. That's not a no forever. It's a list of what to build first.

If you weigh only one item, make it the second honesty question. Something will go wrong online eventually. A kid who tells you is far safer than one who never seems to put a foot wrong.

Are you ready, too?

Readiness runs both ways. Worth a quiet think before the big conversation:

☐  Do you have the time to set it up properly and talk things through?

☐  Will you hold a boundary when it makes you unpopular?

☐  Will you sit down with them now and then to look at what their apps and feeds are serving up, together, with their phone in their hands and not taken off them behind their back?

If they're not quite there yet

A first phone works better as a journey than a handover. Plenty of families step it up:

smartwatch or basic phone  →  calls and messaging  →  smartphone with parental controls  →  more open access over time

Each step covers a real need while keeping the training wheels on. The early rungs have a quiet advantage at the moment, too: a calls-and-text device keeps social media largely out of reach while your kid builds the habits for more.

Staying involved

A phone is never set and forget. eSafety recommends combining parental controls with ongoing, age-appropriate conversations rather than relying on technical controls alone.

Where you can, agree in advance on how and when you'll look at the phone together. Open check-ins keep trust intact and make it easier for your child to come to you. If you ever believe there's an immediate risk to their safety, stepping in more directly can be the right call. The rest of the time, looking at a feed side by side builds trust, where going through their phone in secret quietly costs it.

Questions parents often ask

Is there a set age for a first phone?

No. There's no official recommended age in Australia, and expert thinking has moved toward a child's readiness and maturity rather than a fixed number. Plenty of rules of thumb circulate online. They can be handy conversation starters, but we believe your read on your own child counts for more than any formula.

How common are phones among Australian kids this age?

For context, ACMA's 2020 research found 46% of Australian children aged 6 to 13 had used a mobile phone, and 33% owned the one they used. Those figures help explain the social pressure your kid may be feeling through the later primary years, but they shouldn't decide what's right for your child.

The bottom line

The question isn't only whether your kid is ready for a phone. It's what kind of phone they're ready for. Plenty of kids can handle calls, messages and maps long before they can handle an open app store and social media. Match the phone to where they are now, and let it grow with them.

The Tutela Team writes on online safety and connectivity. This is general information, not child-development or clinical advice — for concerns about your child's wellbeing, speak with your GP or a qualified professional.
To see what controls we include to help protect your household, visit our home internet plans.

Sources and further reading

●  eSafety Commissioner — Are they old enough?

●  eSafety Commissioner — Social media age restrictions and your family

●  eSafety Commissioner — Early days, early insights (July 2026 evaluation)

●  ACMA — Kids and mobiles: how Australian children are using mobile phones (2020)

●  Raising Children Network — Responsible mobile phone use: kids & teens

●  Further watching — Sarah Kimmel, Family Tech, Kids' Phone Ladder (YouTube): a clear walkthrough of the staged watch-to-phone approach (US perspective; the framework travels, the specific ages pre-date Australia's under-16 rules).