Australia's eSafety watchdog is calling on dating applications to step up their game on safety, as the NSW government flags a crackdown on misuse of the platforms.
The safety of dating apps is under scrutiny following the alleged murder of Dannielle Finlay-Jones.
Ashley Gaddie was charged with her murder on Wednesday.
Police are looking into whether she met him online, when he was serving a community corrections order for prior domestic violence offences.
The NSW government has flagged a revamp of online safety laws, to scrutinise anyone using dating apps.
It will likely call on the federal government to join the push, arguing it's a national issue.
"I think the industry experts need to get together, and they need to speak to other experts in the field such as the eSafety Commissioner, and come up with some recommendations," Minister for Women Bronnie Taylor said.
eSafety Commissioner Julie Inman Grant, while acknowledging "some positive steps", said dating platforms have "more work to do to ensure their platforms are safe".
"That includes responding to reports about online harassment and image-based abuse more quickly, and taking proactive steps to prevent users who have been removed for predatory online behaviour from reappearing on their sites with new accounts and aliases," she said.
eSafety has been speaking with dating platforms since 2019 to push for stronger safeguards in apps.
Online platforms have proved tricky to regulate in the past, but Relationships Australia CEO Elisabeth Shaw dismissed suggestions that reform would be too difficult.
"We do have parallels with the Working with Children Check that was able to be implemented, there's absolutely no reason why dating app company owners couldn't do the same.
"There is a social responsibility for companies to look at the unintended consequences of their commercial behaviour and I think we've got some really serious consequences that need to be taken into account."
