Keeping kids safe online

For children, this presents opportunities to learn, connect and be creative. It also poses significant challenges and harm, including cyberbullying, exposure to inappropriate content, and risks to privacy, which have led to devastating and tragic consequences for too many children, young people, families and communities across Australia.

It is imperative that we keep children safe.

That is why Life Ed applauds the Albanese Government’s leadership in this space which has seen a world-first law passed in the Senate requiring young people to be a minimum age of 16 to access social media.

Well done to all the groups who have played an important part in this milestone after tirelessly campaigning for evidence-informed age restrictions to social media.

While the details of the legislation and its roll out are yet to confirmed, this is an important next step in working towards keeping our children safe online.

Online safety and wellbeing for children is a complex issue.

It requires a multifaceted approach to address the wide-ranging implications. Age-appropriate education across multiple levels, in combination with age-appropriate safeguarding measures are an important part of this.

Just as there are age restrictions to alcohol, gambling and driving in accordance to risk, it is reasonable and important to expect the same for the online world given the substantial body of evidence that is building to support significant harm to young users.

Young children lack the developmental maturity to navigate the complexities and risks posed by social media. The introduction of an age restriction would give children time to progress developmentally while education is embedded to build digital literacy and online safety skills in the years before access to potentially harmful online spaces.

We must also note the important role of social media platforms. We hope that with the introduction of an age restriction will come increased accountability from social media platforms. Just as they innovate to engage, it is vital that they pivot to prioritise protecting young users.

Children should not be our sole focus.

Learning, and more specifically health literacy, is most effectively embedded when trusted adults, like parents and teachers, are engaged in the process.* We should be educating them and providing resources so they can feel more confident in supporting the children in their lives and can continue to reinforce healthy and safe digital habits by leading by example.

Life Ed has been supporting schools, families and communities with education on online safety and wellbeing since 2016, with the bCyberwise module for Years 3 and 4, and Relate Respect Connect for Years 5 and 6. In 2025, the Harold’s Online World module will be rolled out across Years 1 and 2 classes, addressing a developing need in the early years of primary school and allowing Life Ed to have a more impactful whole-of-school approach.

All of these modules are comprised of tailored interactive learning sessions for students, and pre and post visit resources for teachers and parents so they can continue the conversation in and beyond the classroom.

All material is evidence-informed, strengths-based and aligns with the Australian Curriculum, eSafety Commissioner’s Best Practice Framework for Online Safety Education, and World Health Organisation’s (WHO) recommendations on digital health for children and adolescents.

*Developing Health Literacy Skills in Children and Youth: Proceedings of a Workshop 2020.