I do not have kids and I'm not defending just genuinely curious what the difference between forward and rear facing is? Is it a safety thing?
Yep. In an accident where the child is forward facing, it can cause catastrophic injury and death. Head, neck and shoulders are thrown forward, even in a side on collision they are still thrown around in the seat.
When they are rear facing, that body load in an accident is hugely reduced, and the seat itself absorbs the impact- not the child’s body. It also retains the child’s spine, pelvis and head in a neutral position, reducing the risk of severe injury (or death).
The saying goes broken neck = casket. Broken leg = cast it. Any child can be injured in a car accident. But having them rear facing means they’re 100x more likely to actually survive and not sustain life threatening injuries or disability.
A child’s skeleton undergoes huge, huge changes until age 3/4. Australia laws are so, so behind where we legally “allow” children to forward face from 6 months. Age 4 is recommended, and seats are designed to go as long as possible. There are always exceptions and parental justification such as car sickness or intolerance- extremely rarely (without a genetic condition) is the child Actually *too tall*

you’ll hear that a lot.
This is a really good video about it to visualise the difference:
Similarly, children should be boostered until they are at least 9 years old, or 145 cm standing AND pass the 5 step test. Adult seatbelts are designed for a minimum of 145cm height, and while it’s “legal” to have a child using a lap sash seat belt with no booster from age 7, it’s not recommended. i’ve seen it be the difference between a 9 year old child walking out of a wreckage being in a booster seat, or being quadriplegic.
Best practice doesn’t always align with laws which is very unfortunate.
On a snark point, it’s extremely disappointing to see people with platforms not advocating or educating about car seat safety. It literally is life or death.