Teresa Gambaro (Brisbane, Liberal Party, Shadow Parliamentary Secretary for Citizenship and Settlement) Share this | Hansard source

I rise in support of this motion moved by my colleague, the member for Forrest, who has just arrived in this chamber. It is testament to her hard work in this area of significant concern for the safety and welfare of Australian children.

As the internet expands its reach into every facet of our everyday lives, it crashes through the traditional physical and virtual barriers that previously provided some sort of protection. And regrettably, what we have seen with the advent of the internet is a new social cost associated with blind allegiance to this new technology. And as with any form of the technology, there are dangers that invariably flow from its misuse. A lack of available education for both children and parents as to the internet's proper use has seen the instances of cyberbullying skyrocket around the country, with newspapers in my electorate in Brisbane, like so many others, all too frequently reporting on circumstances of schoolchildren being sledged, belittled, vilified, stalked and bullied in the most horrendous fashions.

As the member for Forrest has so correctly identified, education is the key to addressing this problem. Too many young people see the internet, or cyberspace, as a lawless domain where they can do anything they want and say anything they want to anyone at any time anywhere. Gone are the days when bullying was a localised problem, limited to the classroom or the schoolyard, with a limited time of exposure confined just to school hours. Now there is no reprieve—and this is one of the greatest dangers of the internet's misuse. Cyberbullying of children can be 24 hours a day, seven days a week and an activity that transcends geographical boundaries and locations. Regrettably, children in the electorate of any member of this place can be the victim of cyberbullying, which can be a global campaign with the click of a mouse. The member for Forrest was quite right when she said on 11 February in this place:

There is probably no greater threat to the safety of our citizens—especially our young people—than the misuse of this great resource. The internet can be our greatest asset but also our greatest risk factor.

That is why cybersafety is such an important issue.

Never were truer words spoken in the name of protecting our children.

That is why last year, in building on the member for Forrest's great work in this area, the Leader of the Opposition, Tony Abbott, established the coalition Online Safety Working Group to consult around the country in developing policies to assist parents, carers and teachers to better protect children and young people from the risks associated with the internet and social media. In the coalition's discussion paper, which was also released last year, we recommended some key measures which we believed could go a very long way towards addressing these issues. They include establishing a children's e-safety commissioner to take a national leadership role in this area; implementing rapid removal protocols for large social media outlets through a cooperative regulatory scheme for material that has been targeted at, and is likely to cause harm to, an Australian child; assisting parents and carers to make better informed decisions about devices such as smart phones and tablets by establishing recognised branding indicating their suitability for younger children and teenagers; providing greater support for schools through a stronger online safety component within the National Safe Schools Framework and assisting with online safety resources for schools; and undertaking a national public education campaign to highlight online safety issues. A key proposal in the coalition's discussion paper is to provide greater support for schools in their work to assist children in their care to be safe online. This would involve providing greater support for schools through a stronger online safety component within the existing National Safe Schools Framework.

After several years of no action from the government with regard to protecting children online, it was really good to see an announcement from the current government in January this year. The coalition welcomed the fact that the announcement followed the lead the coalition had established in key areas, announcing an education module for schoolchildren and voluntary protocols involving some social media outlets. While these arrangements are welcome, it is clear that this announcement by the government does not go far enough. The coalition have made it clear that we expect major social media outlets to step up and to show a greater degree of social responsibility than they have shown to date in working with the government and regulatory agencies to address the problem of providing rapid responses to cyberbullying experienced by children.

Cyberbullying is not a problem that anyone in society can wash their hands of. Children are our most precious resources, and this should not be a subject that is derailed by mindless political parochialism. This is a subject that could well be one of the defining actions of our time, as the new technology that is the internet, and its use, changes the way we live. If there was ever a subject that every member in this House should come together and speak with one voice on, it is this. The cybersafety of our children should be non-negotiable and something for which we should all act in unison. So I know from speaking with parents, not just in my electorate in Brisbane but all around the country, that they need every bit of help to be able to tackle this problem.

I recently spoke on behalf of the shadow minister for education at an independent school forum in Brisbane, where I was very pleased to see—and I am sure the member for Forrest, sitting beside me here, would have been very pleased to see—that one of the presentations was by an expert in cyber-bullying. She gave a presentation to all the school principals who were assembled at that particular school conference. So it is great to see that there are people out there like the member for Forrest and other educators who go out to schools to help to alleviate this terrible problem.

Too many parents sometimes feel that this problem is way too complex, is beyond them and they need help. I know from my own experience. Although he is not a 'young' son anymore, I worry about my son's constant time on the internet at the age of 24. It is a very addictive medium in many ways and there needs to be balance in all of these things. We are fighting a battle here where children are digital natives—and many of them are, at best, digital nomads, who are quickly out of their depth and are unable to put in place adequate safeguards. It is very important that we protect our children from cyber-bullying.

The coalition expects that our discussion paper, 'Enhancing online safety for children', will stimulate discussion. Indeed, we have received an extensive range of submissions which we are working through. Based upon our discussion paper, those submissions will be bringing forward a policy at the next election. We expect that, in response to that, social media outlets and other internet companies will be better placed to demonstrate their commitment to corporate social responsibility in protecting children from harm. It is vitally important that the corporate sector comes on board here and that they do realise they have a social responsibility.

We want to see enhanced cyber-safety through providing greater support for schools through a stronger online safety component within a national safe school framework. I must admit that, when I was at that school conference recently, I could see that schools are crying out for this type of education. They do not know where to turn. They do not know how to implement such a program. And there is a great need to provide that guidance, that leadership and that direction. Many schools are in a position where they want to provide assistance and safety for their students in this new medium. We also want to see a national public education campaign to highlight online safety issues.

I wholeheartedly support this motion of my colleague, the member for Forrest. I want to pay tribute to the hard work that she has done. I know that she has transcended many electorates and spoken to many members and that she has conducted forums for many members in this House as well, and I thank her for the incredible work that she has done. But this parliament should acknowledge that cyber-bullying and inadequate cyber-safety pose a significant threat to the welfare and security of all Australians, especially young people. This threat will increase with new technology and greater connectivity, and the government should move to take decisive action to enhance cyber-safety education in all Australian schools for the benefit of all Australian students.

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