Online Safety Working Group in Bendigo

I have just finished a visit to Bendigo with the Coalition Online Safety Working Group. Our visit was hosted by Senator Bridget McKenzie, the National Party Senator for Victoria, and we were also joined by ACT Senator Gary Humphries and Tasmanian Senator Stephen Parry. We started the day in a meeting with the Bendigo South Football Netball Club, talking about the impact of Facebook and social media for a large, youth-oriented community organisation.

We learned that even football and netball clubs - which are largely volunteer run - need to have social media policies!

Then we went to Bendigo Catholic College, where we spoke with a group of year 10 students about their use of social media. Later, we heard a presentation about an impressive local cybersafety education program, including short films - for example, there is one about the consequences of 'sexting' - which are designed to be used as educational tools. Next, we met with a group of year 6 students at Strathfieldsaye Primary School, and learned that almost all of the group of 20 students own a (wifi enabled) ipod touch. The day finished with a round table discussion at the Bendigo campus of Latrobe University, with a number of academics and other stakeholders including local lawyers and police.

It was a very useful day which, importantly, allowed us to get the perspectives of children, teenagers, teachers and others in a large regional centre. While many of the issues are the same as we found in bigger cities, there are some differences as well. For example, in a place like Bendigo, prominent local footballers are very visible figures in the community: so the football clubs work closely with their rising young stars to make sure they understand how many people are likely to see whatever they choose to post on their Facebook pages.