Nola Marino (Forrest, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

I think all of us understand why there is a great need for resources in relation to children's safety online. ThinkUKnow is a free, evidence based cybersafety program that provides presentations to Australian parents, carers, teachers and students. It provides information on the technologies young people use, on the challenges they may face and, importantly, on how those challenges can be overcome. Presentations are delivered face to face or digitally.

ThinkUKnow aims to provide parents with the tools to create a safer online environment for young people in their care. The presentations cover what young people say, see and do online. They cover topics such as social-media reputation management, cyberbullying, sexting, online grooming, online gaming, inappropriate content, privacy management, identity theft, how to protect devices and how to report matters when things go wrong. The program bridges the knowledge gap between adults and young people so that everyone has an understanding of the roles they play and what they can do if something goes wrong online. The adult and youth presentations have been designed to align to ensure adults receive complementary information to assist them in communicating with children and young people about the technology they use. It is becoming increasingly urgent to bridge the digital generational gap—I know this through the presentations I do myself—ensuring parents, teachers and carers are vigilant for the signs of online dangers.

In 2015, the AFP received more than 11,000 reports of online child exploitation. Predators are very clever at exploiting vulnerable young people exploring the online environment, so it is more important than ever that we know the risks our children may be exposed to and how to minimise these risks, including where to report problems.

Educating parents and teachers about how to keep our children safe online has never been more vital. This is why I have given hundreds of cybersafety presentations to schools, community groups and parents.

In 2015-16, the ThinkUKnow volunteers delivered more than one presentation each day of the year, a total of 386, to more than 10,000 parents, carers and teachers. They are doing a great job. In 2015-16, state and territory police delivered ThinkUKnow presentations to more than 150,000 school students from year 3 through to year 12. ThinkUKnow is a vital initiative that demonstrates the commitment of the government to educating our children on how to stay safe, respectful and resilient online.

The majority of states and territories across Australia are signed partners with ThinkUKnow, including WA Police, Northern Territory Police, SA Police, the New South Wales Police Force, Tasmania Police and the Queensland Police Service. ThinkUKnow is yet another example of the work the government and the Australian Federal Police are doing working together to keep our children safe online, as is the work the government is doing with the eSafety Commissioner. When you look at the ThinkUKnow website you see the practical tools—how to have fun, how to stay in control, how to report—and a great cybercafe. It covers a range of different issues in how to have fun—in chatting, in instant messaging, in emails and mobiles, in chat rooms, on social networking sites, in file sharing and gaming—and gives very practical support for young people.

In the 'How to report' section it explains how a lot of young people do not understand who they could be talking to, where those people are and what they actually might want from that young person. They are told on the ThinkUKnow site that sometimes things make them feel upset, that people play games and share pictures. Some things make them upset: they may say nasty things and upset children, or they might see things they do not like. Of course it is not their fault. They need to tell their trusted adult straight away, to tell them about what is going on online. They need to save any messages that may have upset that child so that they know—you can show that to the person, your trusted adult, that you are telling it to, whether it is your school, your teacher, the local police: whoever is required. And there is no way these young people will get into trouble for this.

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