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
(
OCSET)—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
Australian 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
NetAlert website. Ongoing technical
support continues to be available for people who obtained a filter under the Scheme is
until 30 June 2010.