Children’s rights in online environments are an important consideration for any parent. The United Nations define a child as any person under the age of 18, and have implemented a number of considerations in regards to children’s rights online which include:
This is referenced in General comment No. 25, Protection of children in digital environments formally adopted by the UNCRC in 2021. The General Comment importantly now recognises that, in the same way human rights apply to children in a physical sense, they equally apply in the digital world. What this means in practice is that special attention must now be paid to ensure that children and young people are able to use the internet safely, while also feeling empowered to actively participate in all that it can offer.
In Australia and around the world, children have the right to feel safe, and as a parent of a child living with a disability it is helpful to understand the ways children should be supported and empowered to actively participate in digital environments.
There are a number of laws that protect young people from harms in online environments including cyberbullying, Image Based Abuse, intimidation, grooming and predatory behaviour and violent or abhorrent content. These laws include:
State based police are able to investigate and take action if criminal offences have occurred. This includes offences relating to the online world. They can even take our Provisional Violence Orders (PVO’s) or Apprehended Violence Orders (AVO’s) in relation to certain threatening or intimidating online behaviours. Please contact your local police to learn more.
Young people and their caregivers are also able to gather topic specific advice from sites like:
The Office of the eSafety Commissioner
The eSafety Commissioner (eSafety) is an independent statutory office established under the Enhancing Online Safety Act 2015. The eSafety Commissioner has various functions and powers to foster online safety under Australian Government legislation. In addition to diverse educational options for young people, parents and advocates, eSafety has the ability to take action on behalf of young people if serious harm is occurring.
The Online Safety Act enhances safety laws for children and adults in Australia. The act gives the office of the eSafety Commissioner substantial powers to protect all Australians across most online platforms and forums where people can experience abuse or be exposed to harmful content.
The online safety act specifically covers 6 areas:
The eSafety Commissioner also has an active cyber reporting scheme, which allows children and adults to directly report:
Serious online abuse including:
Harmful or illegal content including posts, comments, texts, messages, chats, live streams, memes, images, videos or emails.
Illegal or restricted content including sexual abuse of children or acts of terrorism, through to content which should be not be accessed by children, such as simulated sexual activity, detailed nudity or high impact violence.
It is important to collect evidence when reporting these incidents to the eSafety Commissioner. You can find out how to collect evidence here.
This Online Safety Training is a joint initiative between Interaction and ySafe and has been made possible by funding from the eSafety Commissioner's Online Safety Grants program.