The eSafety commissioner’s office has said the age-assurance trial report found geolocation technology and other signals could be used to detect if users are trying to use a VPN. The report itself suggests VPN users should not be blocked, but checked with age verification. That could mean that, if implemented, anyone using a VPN anywhere in the world to access the sites would have to verify their age, despite not being in Australia.
There’s a great Black Mirror episode that pretty much starts like that. Episode name is “Shut Up and Dance” for those interested.
Only watch if you don’t mind watching terrible things happen lol. (I mean people should know that given it’s black mirror but just in case).