Jill Hall (Shortland, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

Mr Deputy Speaker Vasta, I would like to congratulate you on the birth of your latest child. In doing so, I would also like to speak on the bills we have before us today, the Enhancing Online Safety for Children Bill 2014 and the Enhancing Online Safety for Children (Consequential Amendments) Bill 2014. Mr Deputy Speaker, I know that as a parent this is something that will be very close to your heart and something that you will be pleased to see pass through this parliament. The primary bill establishes a child e-safety commissioner and sets out its functions and powers, which relate to a defined prohibition against cyberbullying material targeted at an Australian child. I am not sure that Australians are aware of the depth of this problem. It is enormous. It is a problem that affects practically every family within this nation. For every family that has a computer and has young people who are computer literate and are involved in social media, it has the potential to impact on their life.

There has been considerable research done on cyberbullying. The previous speaker mentioned the research conducted in conjunction with the University of New South Wales—Youth exposure to and management of cyberbullying incidents in Australiawhich showed that one in five Australian children aged between eight and 17 experience cyberbullying each year. In 2013, 72 per cent of schools reported at least one incident of cyberbullying. In conversations I have had with schools within my electorate each and every one of those schools can roll off a list of accounts of cyberbullying that those schools have had to deal with. The estimated number of children and young people aged eight to 17 who have been a victim of cyberbullying in Australia is around 463,000—of whom around 365,000 are in the peak age group of 10 to 15. Girls are more likely to be victims, and that reflects their relationship with their peers. It is devastating for a young woman to be a victim of cyberbullying. One young woman in the Shortland electorate actually left school early and has gone to TAFE to complete her schooling.

It is said that 'cyberbullying is like any other form of bullying'. I attribute that quote to the chief executive of the Alannah and Madeline Foundation, Dr Judith Slocombe. I would have to say that I disagree with her. It is not like any other kind of bullying; it is much worse. If you are being bullied within your school it tends to be confined to that school community or the immediate community outside the school. With cyberbullying, it goes viral. It can cover a whole region. In the Hunter, where part of my electorate is, or on the Central Coast, where the other part of my electorate is, a young person may be a victim of cyberbullying within their own school community but that goes viral and they become a victim of cyberbullying within the whole region. It really does impact on that person's ability to learn and to relate to other young people and it impacts on that person's mental health. There is a need for much work to be done on deterrents to cyberbullying.

Last Friday, the state member for Charlestown, Jodie Harrison, and I met with the school leaders within our electorates. We talked to them about issues that were important to them and we talked about issues that were having the greatest impact on their lives and the lives of the young people in the communities where they were leaders. The two issues that they raised were cyberbullying and mental health, and then they went on to explain how the two were interlinked and how part of the work that they were hoping to do as school leaders in 2015 was aimed at addressing the impact of cyberbullying. As one young person spoke another young person would be nodding in agreement, and there was a definite consensus throughout the whole of that room that cyberbullying was bullying of a different order, bullying that affected a person's life in so many different ways. It attacked their self-esteem, made them feel marginalised and led to a situation where their overall mental health and wellbeing were jeopardised.

I do not think that we as a parliament can underestimate the impact of cyberbullying. I do not think that we as the nation's leader can walk away from our responsibility to create a safe environment for young people who are using the internet. The Edith Cowan University reported stated:

Cyberbullying appears to be related to age (or access to technology), with older students more likely to engage in cyberbullying than younger students.

I would also argue that students when they reach a certain level of maturity tend not to be quite so involved as those in the key peak age group of 10 to 15 years of age but that by the time they get to the end years of school and have decided: 'Maybe I might take my Facebook account down,' which I have heard many young people say, the damage has already been done for the most vulnerable students.

The Catholic schools have a cybersafety website that keeps parents up-to-date with what is happening in their children's world. I think it is really important that parents, teachers and all the significant people in a young person's life are aware of the internet, of its positives and of its negatives. They need to know what is happening in that child's world. They need to be involved in a child's life to ensure that the computer is a tool that delivers knowledge and a good quality of life not something that can destroy a young person's life. The New South Wales Department of Education and Communities has an A to Z website for parents which looks at ensuring that parents have knowledge about cyberbullying and the impact that the internet can have upon young people. In the Hunter region we have a headspace that was opened in 2013. There is a new headspace that is going to operate in the northern part of Wyong Shire with an outstation at San Remo Neighbourhood Centre in Shortland electorate.

Discussions with all the major stakeholders have led to the conclusion that cyberbullying has the most enormous impact on young people's lives. There is a great debate about whether or not there is a link between bullying and mental health. I have definitely seen examples where there has been that link, where a young person has ended up needing to seek help from a mental health professional. It can be argued that teenage suicides are directly caused by bullying. That is a simplistic approach. It is not that simple. It cannot help but be conceded that an environment that belittles, intimidates and frightens does not create rehabilitation. There can be extreme consequences, such as self-harm, caused by mental illness. But bullying sows the seed. It does not cause mental illness but it sows the seed. It attacks a young person's self-esteem and their self-worth. It marginalises them. That is why it is important that at every level when we are considering the mental health of young people we use every tool possible to ensure that they enjoy good mental health.

Social media provides a wonderful opportunity for young people to express themselves. However, the faceless nature of online communication makes people more brazen. I think many of the speakers in this debate have mentioned this. What results is that the forum for help turns into an arena for ridicule, and that can have an enormous impact on young people.

The legislation before us today establishing a Children's e-Safety Commissioner to look at cyberbullying material targeted at young people in Australia is supported by us on the side of the House. A child or their representative can complain to the commissioner that they are or have been the subject of cyberbullying material targeted at an Australian child, and the commissioner may investigate such complaints. The bill sets out an expectation of the parliament that each social media service will comply with a set of basic online safety requirements, including minimum standards in a service provider's terms and conditions of use, a complaints scheme and a dedicated contact person. The bill creates two tiers of social media. Tier 1 comprises social media services which have applied to the commissioner to be declared as such. Tier 2 social media services may be issued a social media service notice by the commissioner.

Social media and the internet are something that most Australians value, particularly young people. This is the era of social media. This is an area when we communicate with each other through social media, and we have to ensure that it is safe. We on this side of the House support the legislation. In doing so, we acknowledge that there are many cases where young people's lives have been impacted upon by cyberbullying on social media.

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