eSafety is Australia’s online safety regulator and while our primary role is in taking down harmful content online and holding companies to account through initiatives like Safety by Design, prevention of online harms through research, education and awareness is a critical function.
We believe that parents are the frontline of defense in keeping their children safe online. And given 81% of Australian parents have provided their pre-school aged child access to an internet-connected device, these protective behaviors need to be instilled early.
While the statistics may differ slightly in the US, it’s fair to say children are increasingly using digital devices from a very young age — and that is not necessarily a bad thing. Kids can learn and develop important skills and behaviors with the right kinds of online games, apps and education programs.
But there are risks too, especially when devices can be connected to the internet. So, it’s never too early to encourage good online habits, particularly as we all spend more time at home, and subsequently online, during COVID-19.
Now more than ever, there is a global need for evidence-based and engaging online safety advice. As the world’s first government agency dedicated to tackling online abuse and keeping its citizens safer online, we are sharing our experience and advice with governments, organizations, parents, carers and educators around the globe.
To help parents and carers of pre-school aged children manage online risks and have conversations about online safety, we’ve developed an e-booklet — ‘Online safety advice for young children, parents and carers’ — and a Story Puzzles activity.
These resources build on our Early Years program, which we’ve consulted on with parents, early childhood educators and other experts. It includes a range of resources to help parents and carers and early years educators support young children to have safe and enjoyable experiences online.
The international edition of the e-booklet takes this advice, along with other useful tips and tricks to help set good foundations for your children’s online activities.
Some of these include…
Use these four simple messages: Be Safe, Be Kind, Ask for Help, and Make Good Choices to help you start talking about online safety and encourage good habits early on.
As your child grows older, we encourage parents to instill the ‘4 R’s of online safety’: respect, responsibility, resilience, and critical reasoning in their children’s online lives.
Whether your child is video calling with family members, watching a TV program or even playing an online game, they can learn important skills and positive behaviors. The trick to making sure kids get the most out of their screen time is choosing good quality content.
Some apps, shows and games are more appropriate for young children than others and many provide great educational benefits. So, check out the ‘Find good content’ section of the e-booklet to learn more about the signs of good quality shows, games and apps.
Our eSafety Guide also provides valuable information about popular games and apps, including age recommendations, what the app is used for, and how to report issues.
Don’t forget to co-view and co-play, to better understand what your kids are experiencing so that you can share and engage in their “digital playgrounds” too.
Parental controls are available on most tablets, smartphones, computers, TVs and gaming consoles. These tools can help block your child from accessing specific websites, apps or functions. They can also monitor your child’s use of connected devices and set time limits.
In addition, you can use child-friendly search engines, or select safe search settings on digital devices, to help prevent your child from stumbling across inappropriate sites and content.
You can find more detailed advice in the ‘Set up devices safely’ section of the e-booklet.
But beware! While parental controls can be handy, you cannot always rely on them. No tool is 100 percent effective 100 percent of the time – and even tiny tots can be surprisingly clever little hackers.
So, the most practical way to use parental controls is in combination with other safeguards. The very best protection is you: being actively involved in encouraging your child’s good online safety habits helps protect them from the moment you hand them a device.
We at eSafety believe that these parenting tips align with FOSI’s world leading Good Digital Parenting resources, and in the spirit of that digital delivery, here is my 45 second re-cap on key things parents can do to keep their kids safer online, specifically during COVID-19.
Julie Inman Grant is Australia’s eSafety Commissioner. In this role, Julie leads the world’s first government regulatory agency committed to keeping its citizens safer online. She was appointed as eSafety Commissioner on 23 November 2016 and began in the role in January 2017.
Julie has extensive experience in the not-for-profit and government sectors and spent 2 decades working in senior public policy and safety roles in the tech industry at Microsoft, Twitter and Adobe.
Julie’s career began in Washington DC, working in the US Congress and the not-for-profit sector before taking on a role at Microsoft. Her experience at Microsoft spanned 17 years. She established the DC office and its corporate affairs functions for Australia and New Zealand, and across the Asia-Pacific, ultimately culminating in the role of Global Safety Director for Privacy and Safety.
At Twitter, she set up and drove the company’s policy, safety and philanthropy programs across Australia, New Zealand and Southeast Asia.
As Commissioner, Julie plays an important global role as Chair of the Child Dignity Alliance’s Technical Working Group and as a Board Member of the WePROTECT Global Alliance. She also serves on the World Economic Forum’s Global Coalition for Digital Safety and on its XR Ecosystem Governance Steering Committee on Building and Defining the Metaverse. Under her leadership, eSafety has joined forces with the White House Gender Policy Council and Government of Denmark representing Australia on the Global Partnership for Action on Gender-Based Harassment and Abuse.
In 2021, Julie oversaw significant increases in the eSafety office’s budget, increased staffing levels and launched the global Safety by Design initiative. As Commissioner, she has led work to stand up novel and world-first regulatory regimes under the new Online Safety Act 2021, with implementation of a sweeping new set of reforms beginning on 23 January 2022. Commissioner Inman Grant was reappointed for a further 5-year term by the Australian Government in January 2022.
More information can be found at www.esafety.gov.au.
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