Online safety
The ubiquitous nature of being connected online provides many benefits, including access to vast information, social interactions, education tools and entertainment. It also exposes people to risks like scams, cyberbullying, misinformation, and inappropriate content. Teaching young people the skills to navigate these risks—such as recognising harmful behaviour, protecting personal information, and critically evaluating online content—is essential for fostering safe and responsible online experiences. Equipping them with these tools empowers them to make informed decisions and stay safe in the digital world.
Definitions
Catfishing – is when someone creates a fake online identity and uses it to trick and control others, to scam people out of money, blackmail them or harm them.
Cyberbullying – is when someone uses the internet to humiliate, harass, embarrass or threaten another person.
Cyberstalking – is when a person keeps constant track of someone online in a way that makes them feel uncomfortable, worried or threatened.
Deepfakes – are realistic-looking videos, images or sound files, that are edited using artificial intelligence software to create a realistic but false depiction of a person doing or saying something that they did not do or say.
Digital footprint – is the trail of data a person leaves when using the internet. It can be information a person has shared (active) or data that’s collected without the person’s direct input (passive).
Doxing – is the intentional online exposure of an individual’s identity, private information or personal details without their consent.
Image-based abuse – is when someone shares, or threatens to share, an intimate image or video of a person without their consent.
Online grooming – refers to establishing and building a relationship with a child using the internet or other digital technologies to facilitate sexual contact with the child, in-person or online.
Online safety – is about minimising the risks from inappropriate online behaviours, abuse, harmful content, unwanted contact, identity theft and breaches of privacy.
Phishing – is when a person tries to trick someone into giving them their personal information, such as a password or credit card number, often through emails, messages or websites.
Sextortion – is a form of online blackmail where someone tricks or coerces a person into sending sexual images of themselves and threatens to share the images unless their demands are met, which could be money, more graphic content or sexual favours.
Sexting – refers to sending a sexual message or text, which may or may not include a photo or video.
Technology-facilitated abuse – refers to the use of digital technologies to harm, control, harass, monitor or abuse someone. It can happen as part of domestic, family and sexual violence.
Implementation
The KS:CPC addresses online safety throughout the curriculum, focusing on situations from an in-person and online context. Some key concepts include (at an age and developmentally appropriate level), digital citizenship, privacy and security, relationships and dating, consent, social media, gaming, mobile phones and other devices, cyberbullying, grooming, image-based abuse, exposure to pornography, sextortion and the law.
Find opportunities to explore online situations across subjects and learning areas. For Australian educators, connections can be made between the KS:CPC, Early Years Learning Framework and the Australian Curriculum.
Also refer to Australian Curriculum: Online safety.
Resources
Australian Curriculum: Artificial intelligence (ACARA)
Australian framework for generative artificial intelligence in schools (Commonwealth of Australia)
Catfishing (eSafety Commissioner)
Deal with sexual extortion (eSafety Commissioner)
Deepfake trends and challenges – position statement (eSafety Commissioner)
Doxing (eSafety Commissioner)
Fake news (eSafety Commissioner)
Grooming and sextortion (Thorn)
How to be an upstander (eSafety Commissioner)
Self-generated child abuse material (ThinkUKnow)
Sexting and sending nudes (eSafety Commissioner)
Sextortion (ACCCE)
Sextortion: What it is and what to do about it (Kids Helpline)
Spotting online misinformation and disinformation interactive lesson (ABC)
Take it down (NCMEC)
The eSafety guide (eSafety Commissioner)
Department for Education SA
Artificial intelligence in schools
Responding to online safety incidents in South Australian schools
Information and communication technologies are used worldwide, with social networking, entertainment and education being popular online activities for children and young people. This increasingly exposes them to an open and collaborative online culture, where they can access information, develop friendships and relationships and create and share content (AIFS 2018a).
The challenge is to provide children and young people with the knowledge, skills and understanding to engage in online environments safely, identify and avoid risks and become responsible and respectful digital citizens.
Online safety, and more specifically, child online protection, features in many United Nations and multilateral forums focusing on building capacity and supporting countries to introduce legislation, national strategies and implement prevention programs (eSafety Commissioner 2022).
There is strong evidence that online safety education can increase the safety and wellbeing of children and young people and reduce cyberbullying (WHO 2022c).
Information
Image-based abuse is when someone shares, or threatens to share, an intimate image or video of a person without their consent. The person may or may not be aware that the image or video was taken or may have provided permission for the image or video, but not for it to be shared with others (eSafety Commissioner 2024a). With the rapid advances in artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning, image, video and sound files can be generated to create realistic content called ‘deepfakes’, that are difficult to detect (eSafety Commissioner 2020).
An intimate image includes images or videos of sexual body parts, private activities such as using the toilet, showering and bathing, engaging in an act normally done privately, or showing a person without their religious or cultural attire if typically worn in public (eSafety Commissioner 2024a).
Sextortion
Research indicates an ever-increasing number of child sexual exploitation reports received each year (ACCCE n.d.-a). Sexual extortion or sextortion is a form of blackmail where someone threatens to share intimate images of a person unless they give in to their demands, eg money, more intimate images or sexual favours (eSafety Commissioner 2024b).
Exposure to adult pornography
Adult pornography refers to sexually explicit material involving adults that is intended to sexually arouse the audience (Our Watch 2020).
Online adult pornography may be accessed accidentally by children, which can be confusing, distressing and harmful. Young people may be more curious and actively seek adult pornography online. The exposure to graphic or violent images and the portrayal of gender-based abuse can result in misleading messages about intimate relationships (eSafety Commissioner 2023).
Child sexual abuse material
Child sexual abuse material (or ‘child exploitation material’) is content that depicts a person under 18 (or who looks under 18) in a sexual way, involved in sexual activity, or showing their sexual body parts (genital area, anal area or breasts). These images are against the law (Australia), even if they have been created by the child or young person themselves (Department for Education 2022a, ACCCE n.d.-b).
Cyberbullying
Cyberbullying is when someone uses online content or communication to humiliate, harass, intimidate or threaten someone. It can take many forms, such as excluding or ignoring someone, posting mean comments or messages, tricking or humiliating them through fake accounts, or sharing a photo or video that will make them feel threatened and unsafe (eSafety Commissioner 2024c).
In-person bullying and online cyberbullying often happen alongside each other. However, cyberbullying leaves a digital footprint and can be used as evidence to help stop abuse. Both can cause mental harm, where the person may feel they cannot stop it from happening, leading to potential physical suffering (UNICEF 2023).
Resources
Australian Cyber Security Centre
Protecting children from sexual abuse online (eSafety Commissioner)
Report abuse (ACCCE)
Report online harm (eSafety Commissioner)
Global
Getting help outside Australia (eSafety Commissioner)
References
Australian Centre to Counter Child Exploitation (ACCCE) (n.d.-b) Terminology and definitions of online child sexual exploitation, viewed October 2024, https://kscpc.sa.edu.au/a/10880
Australian Institute of Family Studies (AIFS) (2018a) Online safety, viewed October 2024, https://kscpc.sa.edu.au/e/10202
Department for Education (2022a) Sexual behaviour in children and young people: procedure and guideline, Government of South Australia
eSafety Commissioner (2023) Accidental, unsolicited and in your face. Young people’s encounters with online pornography: a matter, https://kscpc.sa.edu.au/e/10209
eSafety Commissioner (2022) Australia’s eSafety strategy 2022–2025, Australian Government
eSafety Commissioner (2024c) Cyberbullying, viewed October 2024, https://kscpc.sa.edu.au/e/10208
eSafety Commissioner (2024b) Deal with sexual extortion, viewed October 2024, https://kscpc.sa.edu.au/e/10206
eSafety Commissioner (2020) Deepfake trends and challenges –position statement, Australian Government
eSafety Commissioner (2024a) FAQ about image-based abuse, viewed October 2024, https://kscpc.sa.edu.au/e/10226
Our Watch (2020) Background paper: Pornography, young people, and preventing violence against women
UNICEF (2023) Cyberbullying: What is it and how to stop it, viewed October 2024, https://kscpc.sa.edu.au/e/10210
World Health Organization (WHO) (2022c) What works to prevent online violence against children?, Violence Prevention Unit, Geneva