What is the eSafety Commissioner?
The eSafety Commissioner (eSafety) is Australia’s independent regulator for online safety.
It is the world’s first government agency dedicated to keeping people safer online.
Starting operations in 2015 as the Children’s eSafety Commissioner it is now at the forefront of the fight against online risks and harms faced by adults as well as children.
Their team includes a fast-growing team of educators, investigators, lawyers, policy analysts, technology experts, digital specialists and other professionals who share one goal – a safer and more positive online experience for all Australians.
Australia’s current eSafety Commissioner is Julie Inman Grant.
What do they do?
The eSafety Commissioner offers multiple services, the primary services relevant to Dolly’s Dream include:
- Broadening the Cyberbullying Scheme for children to capture harms that occur on services other than social media
- Updating the Image-Based Abuse Scheme that allows eSafety to seek removal of intimate images or videos shared online without the consent of the person shown
- Gives eSafety new powers to require internet service providers to block access to material showing abhorrent violent conduct
The key point above is that by reporting online abuse through their ‘Report Abuse Portal’, the eSafety Commissioner has the ability to remove abusive or harmful content from social platforms. Note they will contact you within 2 business days of your report being submitted, if not earlier if your report relates to child cyberbullying or image based abuse. They also aim to remove child sexual abuse material within two business days, for more info on this read here.
How can they help me?
As mentioned above, the most powerful tool they offer is the ability to report online abuse and have it acted on quickly.
To understand the process involved in submitting a report and what happens after, follow this guide here, or to report abuse immediately you can do so here.
Alongside the reporting tool, you can also access a vast amount of educational information, listed below:
Understanding online safety challenges
Cyberbullying – Understand the risks and how to support your child if they are being bullied. Click here to access.
Online Porn – What to do if you child has found or watched online pornography. Click here to access.
Sending nudes and sexting – How to talk to your child and give them advice about sharing intimate images and messages. Click here to access.
Screen time – Help your child achieve a healthy balance in their online and offline activities. Click here to access.
Gaming – Learn about the benefits of playing games online, as well as the potential risks that your child may face. Click here to access.
Child grooming and unwanted contact – Help your child to deal with online contact that makes them uncomfortable or puts them at risk. Click here to access.
Are they old enough? – Advice for parents about determining the right age for their child to access different technologies. Click here to access.
Helping your child have positive online experiences
Online safety basics – Find out the key strategies that every parent needs to know to keep their children safe online. Click here to access.
Good habits start young – Build the digital intelligence of your child and help them to act responsibly online. Click here to access.
The hard-to-have conversations – How to handle talking with your child about tricky personal subjects. Click here to access.
Parental controls – How to use parental controls and other tools to maximise the online safety of your home. Click here to access.
Privacy and your child – Help your child to stay in control of their personal information, online photos and social media identity. Click here to access.
It’s never too early to talk about online safety – Learn how to talk to you child about online safety as soon as they start using digital devices. Click here to access.
Encourage your child to ask for help – Use these tips to teach your child to ask for help when they are online. Click here to access.
Online safety for every family – Use these short videos and easy to read advice sheets to help you talk with your children about online safety. Click here to access.
Activities to do with your child
Mighty Heroes online safety adventures – Watch this series of short videos featuring four heroes and their online safety superpowers. Click here to access.
eSafety Early Years Program – Discover a suite of resources designed to help our very youngest Australians have safe and enjoyable experiences online. Click here to access.
Family tech agreements – Use this fun way to set rules at home for devices, such as smartphones, tablets, computers, TV’s and gaming consoles. Click here to access.
Swoosh and Glide picture book and song – Check out this engaging picture book and song designed to help your child learn how to be safe when using digital devices. Click here to access.
Story puzzles with Swoosh and Glide – Share this fun activity book with young children to show them how to use digital devices in a safe and positive way. Click here to access.
Learn about online safety through play – Find out about play-based learning experiences that families can use to help young children learn and practice online safety skills. Click here to access.
Resources for young people
Alongside the information provided for parents above, the eSafety Commissioner also offers valuable advice for young people on the following topics:
Bullying online – Click here to access.
I’ve been called out – Click here to access.
How to be an upstander – Click here to access.
eSafety Youth Council – Click here to access.
Someone is threatening to share my nudes – Click here to access.
My nudes have been shared – Click here to access.
I’m being pressured to share nudes – Click here to access.
Online Dating – Click here to access.
Receiving unwanted nudes – Click here to access.
Online Hate – Click here to access.
Digital Footprint – Click here to access.
Online Gaming – Click here to access.
Catfishing – Click here to access.
Trolling – Click here to access.
Fake News – Click here to access.
Unsafe or unwanted contact – Click here to access.
Disturbing content – Click here to access.
Being out, trans or gender diverse online – Click here to access.
Consent for sharing photos and videos – Click here to access.
Pressures from social media – Click here to access.
Protecting your personally identifiable information – Click here to access.
Helping adults get online – Click here to access.
Balancing your time online – Click here to access.
Summary
The eSafety Commissioner website is an extremely powerful resource for parents wanting to either report abuse, or educate themselves or their children about online safety. It is also a powerful information resource and tool for young people wanting to report abuse or educate themselves about online safety.
We encourage you to save this page and come back to it to access both the reporting tool and the educational information supplied above, whenever you may need it.
