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Cyber-safety plan

The internet is an essential tool for all Australians, including children. It is an integral part of our economic and social activities, and a vast resource of information, education and entertainment.

The ability to use online tools effectively provides both a skill for life and the means to acquire new skills.

While the internet has created substantial benefits for children, it has also exposed them to a number of dangers, including exposure to illegal and prohibited content. Parents rightly expect the Australian Government to play its part in helping protect children online.

Cyber-safety commitment

In May 2008 the Government committed $125.8 million over four years to a comprehensive range of cybersafety measures, including law enforcement, filtering and education. Measures include:

  • Expansion of the Australian Federal Police (AFP) Child Protection Operations Team (This link sends you off DBCDE's websiteOCSET)—funding to detect and investigate online child sex exploitation
  • Commonwealth Director of Public Prosecutions (CDPP)—funding to help deal with the increased activity resulting from the work of the AFP to ensure that prosecutions are handled quickly
  • Internet Service Provider (ISP) filtering—funding to develop and implement ISP filtering, including undertaking a real world live Pilot
  • Education activities—funding to the This link sends you off DBCDE's websiteAustralian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA) to implement a comprehensive range of education activities:
    • Cybersafety Outreach Professional Development of Educators program and expanded Internet Safety Awareness Presentations
    • A professional development program for trainee teachers
    • Websites / Online help linefunding to ACMA to develop a new cybersafety website which will provide up-to-date information for parents as well as information and activities specifically designed for children, and link to dedicated resources for teachers.
    • The cybersafety website will also contain a link to an online help line which will allow young people to chat online with a trained adult about issues that have happened to them online.
    • ACMA will also improve the accessibility of existing online reporting mechanisms, so that children can quickly and easily report prohibited online content, or behaviour that may be illegal.
  • Consultative Working Group—funding for an expanded Consultative Working Group. The group is considering a broad range of cyber-safety issues and provides advice to the Government, to ensure properly developed and targeted policy initiatives
  • Youth Advisory Group—funding for a Youth Advisory Group which will provide advice to the Consultative Working Group and Government on cyber-safety issues from a young person's perspective, and
  • Research—funding for ongoing research into the changing digital environment to identify issues and target future policy and funding.

PC Filters—funding was made available to the National Filter Scheme which provided accredited and tested PC-level internet content filters until 31 December 2008 through the This link sends you off DBCDE's websiteNetAlert website. Ongoing technical support continues to be available for people who obtained a filter under the Scheme is until 30 June 2010.

  • Document ID: 83747 |
  • Last modified: 16 June 2009, 1:28pm