Senator Catryna Bilyk
Labor Senator for Tasmania
Chair of the Joint Select Committee on Cyber-Safety
MEDIA RELEASE
Tony Abbott Offline about Cyber-Safety
The Chair of the Parliamentary Joint Select Committee on Cyber-Safety, Senator Catryna Bilyk today welcomed the Opposition support for protecting our children online.
“The Gillard Government recognises that cybersafety is a serious issue and has led the way in this area for a number of years,” said Senator Bilyk.
“It was the Gillard Government that established the Joint Select Committee on Cyber Safety after the 2010 election, along with a number of wide ranging advisory groups to ensure Australians are equipped with world’s best practice when it comes to protecting children online.”
The advisory groups include:
• The Teachers and Parents Advisory Group on Cybersafety (TAP) announced last year which provides teachers and parents across Australia an opportunity to come together via a secure online forum to discuss cybersafety issues affecting children in the digital world;
• The Consultative Working Group (CWG) which meets every three months, with representations from community groups (eg. Bravehearts, Childwise, Allanah and Madeline Foundation), industry (eg Facebook, Microsoft, Yahoo, Telstra, IIA, AMTA), and government authorities continues to provide advice on world’s best practice safeguards for Australian children engaging in the digital economy; and
• The Youth Advisory Group (YAG) which provides students from all over Australia a direct voice to Government on cybersafety issues. In 2011 this group included over 1,000 students from over 100 primary and secondary schools, and is expected to grow further in 2012.
The Government has implemented a number of measures on this front:
• Two weeks ago (13 Jan), the Prime Minister launched a new website to tackle cyberbullying and help more young people stay safe online. The Easy Guide to Socialising Online website (www.dbcde.gov.au/easyguide) is part of the Government’s $125 million Cybersafety Plan and has been developed following advice from the Government’s Youth Advisory Group on Cybersafety and close collaboration with the Consultative Working Group – the guide received around 21,000 page views within the first week;
• Contributed $3 million to the Alannah and Madeline Foundation for a national pilot of its eSmart cybersafety initiative which addresses cyberbullying in schools;
• The Cyber-Safety Help Button (www.dbcde.gov.au/helpbutton) that provides children, parents and teachers with access to reporting, counselling and advisory services and info. The button is now on over 300,000 computers and we are working with state and territory education authorities to extend this;
• Provided $16.6 million to the Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA) to continue and expand its cybersafety activities – including the ‘Cybersmart’ website and an outreach program that visits schools around the country to raise awareness. To date over 450,000 parents, teachers and students have participated in the outreach program; and
• Expanded the Australian Federal Police (AFP) Child Protection Operations Team to detect and investigate online child sex exploitation.
More information on the Government’s programs to tackle cybersafety and online bullying are available from http://www.cybersmart.gov.au/ and www.staysmartonline.gov.au.
“While we obviously welcome any efforts to support the protection of children online, Mr Abbott’s call to setup a Liberal party review ignores the significant work undertaken in this area by the Gillard Government and the Parliament,” said Senator Bilyk.
Senator Catryna Bilyk Labor Senator for Tasmania Chair of the Joint Select Committee on Cyber-Safety
