Enhancing Online Safety for Children Bill Debated in Parliament following ‘Safer Internet Day’

The Coalition Government is delivering on its election commitment to tackle cyber-bullying, with the Enhancing Online Safety for Children Bill to be debated in Parliament following ‘Safer Internet Day’ 2015.

“The Coalition went to the 2013 election with a commitment to enhance online safety for children, and this legislation introduces powerful new tools to help protect children online,” said Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister for Communications, Paul Fletcher MP.

“The Enhancing Online Safety for Children Bill will establish the office of the Children’s e-Safety Commissioner to take the lead across government in developing and implementing policies to improve the safety of children online. The Commissioner which will be a single point of contact for online safety issues for industry, Australian children and those charged with their welfare,” Mr Fletcher said.

“The Bill will also establish an effective complaints system for harmful cyberbullying material targeted at an Australian child,” he said.

The 12th annual Safer Internet Day has adopted the theme of ‘Let’s create a better internet together’, and the Government marked the occasion with the release of an updated version of the Easy Guide to Socialising Online.

The guide provides information about the online safety features of social networking sites, search engines, and online games. The guide also provides clear, step-by-step instructions on how users can adjust their privacy settings and site-specific information on how to report cyber-bullying, abusive behaviour and inappropriate content.

The updated Easy Guide to Socialising Online can be found at www.cybersafetyhelp.gov.au/easyguide

In addition, the Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA) is coordinating a variety of Safer Internet Day activities as part of its Cybersmart Program. The ACMA will engage with more than 30,000 school children from 150 schools across Australia as they take part in virtual classrooms to discuss cyberbullying.

Further information on Safer Internet Day 2015 can be found at: www.saferinternetday.org/web/guest/sid-2015