Media release – Alannah & Madeline Foundation, 26 July 2023
Has your family had the DigiTalk?
The Alannah & Madeline Foundation has partnered with Telstra to deliver DigiTalk, an online safety hub dedicated to providing parents and carers with expert advice and practical strategies for keeping children and teenagers safe online.
In today’s digital age, the internet is central to children’s lives, with many Australian children and young people learning, playing, socialising and being entertained online. The average school-aged child owns three personal screen-based devices, and 80% of 16–17-year-olds use social media almost every day.*
The internet provides children and teenagers with a range of benefits; however, it can pose risks to their safety with the possibility of exposure to inappropriate content, privacy breaches or cyberbullying. Eight in ten parents surveyed in 2021 said their child had told them about things that have bothered or upset them online.*
In research conducted by Telstra, four in five (79%) parents say they have had a ‘talk’ with their children about how to stay safe online, with half (49%) noting they talk about this matter a lot. But despite this, almost one third (31%) of Aussie parents of kids aged 5-17 years say they aren’t sure/have no idea where their kids are spending time online.**
Understandably parents and carers can feel overwhelmed when it comes to ensuring their child’s online safety and often don’t know where to start. Communication is key, which is why the Alannah & Madeline Foundation and Telstra are encouraging families to ‘have the DigiTalk’ today.
To help facilitate these conversations they have launched the DigiTalk Online Safety Hub for parents and carers, providing tips and tricks that are easily accessible, digestible, and actionable.
A number of topics are covered including; finding a healthy balance with screen time, nurturing their media and digital literacy, engaging safely with online gaming, dealing with online bullying, and ways to balance exploration with responsibility to help empower them to navigate the online world confidently and safely.
“The ever-evolving digital landscape can be complex and intimidating. The Alannah & Madeline Foundation is thrilled to be working with Telstra to launch a resource that provides parents and carers with credible and practical information in assisting the children and teens in their life to become responsible, confident digital citizens,” said Dr. Maša Popovac, Senior Advisor – Digital Literacy and Online Safety at the Alannah & Madeline Foundation.
“It’s really never too early to start talking to your children about cyber safety. You could begin the talk at a young age by explaining the concept of the internet and its uses as well as best practice such as keeping your personal details private, being kind and staying alert to scams.
“As our children get their own devices and spend more time online, it’s important they know how to stay safer. That’s why we’re thrilled we’ve been able to evolve our partnership with the Alannah & Madeline Foundation to include the DigiTalk initiative,” said Jackie Coates, Head of Telstra Foundation.
Visit the Alannah & Madeline Foundation’s online safety hub, supported by Telstra and have the DigiTalk today. www.digitalk.org.au
Media release – Senator Helen Polley, Senator for Tasmania, 26 July 2023
ONLINE PREDATORS A CONTINUED THREAT TO OUR CHILDREN
Today as Chair of the Joint Standing Committee on Law Enforcement I heard evidence from TikTok about the continued risks to children online.
Evidence was heard that online predators remain one of the biggest threats to the safety of our children across the country. We live in world that demands an online presence and children are online younger and more frequently than ever before. In fact online predatory behaviour has increased over the last two years.
TikTok detailed that they have procedures and safe measures in place to protect children online.
TikTok policy does not permit children to have accounts on Tik Tok so they have measures in place to cancel accounts where they determine a child has set up an account against TikTok policy
More must be done to educate young people about dangers online and parents need to use whatever means necessary to monitor their online use, especially on personal devices.
Online predators know that children are often not monitored on these platforms. They are used to connecting with strangers of the same age to build their online world, and don’t always realise that this ‘child’ is actually an adult predator trying to gain their trust.
Law enforcement agencies are working tirelessly to try and put a stop to this but with an ever-evolving online world, they need parents, carers, and other guardians to educate themselves and their children so that we can keep our children safe.
The Australian Centre to Counter Child Exploitation (ACCCE) and the Australian Federal Police (AFP) have resources for all ages and I implore parents, carers, teachers, and other guardians to become familiar with these resources and to have, the often hard, but necessary conversations.
If we all have these hard conversations and educate ourselves on what is safe for children online, and what signs to look for that indicate an unsafe environment, it will go a long way in keeping the internet a fun, safe, place for our children to be.
It must be noted that Twitter is yet to provide evidence to the committee.
