Every day, 13-year-old Jack* logs into his school laptop and plays his favourite game on the Roblox platform. In this virtual world, he embodies his Lego-like avatar, joining thousands of other children diving into mini-games, chatting with friends, and role-playing elaborate, imaginary stories.

A few weeks ago, he saw something that made him feel deeply uncomfortable. His experience is why Australia is leading the world in enforcing groundbreaking new standards that will force platforms such as Roblox - one of the most popular for online games among Australian children - to change.

When Jack logged on, he saw a sign that said, "come to house 16 for [a hot emoji]." Curious, he attended the house. Two players were talking suggestively. Then "they took their clothes off and were crawling all on each other on the bed," he said.

"I'd never seen anything like it. I didn't even know you could take your clothes off in the game. It was just really disturbing to see two people with no clothes on in a Roblox game," he said.