Keith Pitt (Hinkler, National Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

It is good to be back, and what a difference a week makes! As I was saying, I had the great good fortune of meeting the Bundaberg winner of the Heywire competition, Ms Britteny Hunter. We had actually met Britteny before: the Prime Minister, now Minister for Agriculture Barnaby Joyce and I had helped move a piano out of Britteny's flooded home in 2013. Whilst I do not recall everyone who was standing in the yard at that time, I certainly recall the piano, which was exceptionally large, heavy and wet! Unfortunately, we are in a similar circumstance in Queensland at the moment, but I will get back to that.

Ms Hunter's winning entry was centred on the issues of homelessness and disadvantage. I was also interested to learn that she spent some time examining an issue of great concern to me and, of course, many other locals in the Hinkler electorate: the issue of human trafficking and exploitation. It is a problem I have been particularly vocal about with the aim of better protecting seasonal workers and farmers from unscrupulous contract labour hire firms. Knowing that we have such thoughtful young people living in our region gives me great confidence that our community's future is in safe hands. Ms Hunter has a very bright future ahead of her. I congratulate her on winning the award and wish her every success as she starts study at the Central Queensland University. Digital media platforms and forums like Heywire are giving young people in regional communities a national voice. It is an opportunity for them to participate and to have their concerns and ideas heard, and I congratulate her once again.

Social media in the recent week in Queensland has been incredibly important. Certainly Tropical Cyclone Marcia, which crossed the coast just north of Rockhampton through Yeppoon and Rocky has caused damage in all those regions and also in Biloela, likely in Maryborough and, of course, Gympie. Social media has been the source of information for many people. However, the difficulty with social media is that that source is not always verified. I certainly recommend that the people in my electorate continue to rely on ABC regional radio and their emergency broadcast. Their information is verified and constant.

Certainly we see more of the difficulties in communications in regional Australia. From discussions with the member for Flynn, Ken O'Dowd, the loss of the communications network in Biloela has made it exceptionally difficult in trying circumstances at the moment. So it is very tough to get on Facebook and get information when you have no tower, no communications, no fibre link and no power. However, you can always turn on the car radio, and once again I congratulate ABC regional radio on their emergency broadcast; they have done an exceptional job.

The loss of communications is particularly important and brought back to me memories from 2013 and the floods in Bundaberg. It looks like we will be fortunate this time around; hopefully, it will only be a minor flood through the Bundaberg region. But my heart goes out to those people who are suffering in the other areas. Certainly I recall all the other issues around flat batteries for mobile phones, the inability to communicate rapidly with emergency services and the thousands of people who have had their homes damaged—including my mother-in-law. I was on the ground in Rockhampton first thing as soon as the highway opened on Saturday because I knew what the results would be. It will be a very trying time for the people in that area simply because they have no power, and the likelihood of that being back up quickly is very low. So our thoughts are with them.

But back to the bill. This bill is all about enhancing the balance of online safety. As I said, this is an area which grows exponentially. It is a matter of great concern to me. It is a matter of great concern to many other parents in this country. I congratulate the minister no putting this together. I believe they have got the balance right. It gives parents the opportunity to go to a single point of contact rather than trying to raise these matters with our current law enforcement agencies under the Telecommunications Act. Hopefully, it will go through successfully. I am sure this bill will help to address some of the major problems that we have around social media.

Once again I thank the minister for the opportunity to speak, thank the House and of course endorse the bill.

Justine Elliot (Richmond, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I also rise today to speak on the Enhancing Online Safety for Children Bill 2014. As we have heard from many of the speakers, the issues surrounding cybersafety and cyberbullying are quite rightly a concern to all of us here in the House and right throughout the community. I think we have all had experiences with constituents speaking with us about some of the issues they had. It is in fact an increasingly complex area containing many challenging issues that we as a parliament have an obligation to address. I also note that this is the first time that such a specific codified or hard regulation in this area exclusively has come before the parliament. I think it is a very good thing to be looking very specifically at this issue. I also note that bill has been referred to a parliamentary committee for consideration, the closing date for submissions on that was 12 January and the reporting date is 3 March 2015.

As has been stated on this side of the House before, the opposition will be supporting these bills. We certainly understand how important these matters are, and it is important they be approached in a bipartisan manner. So much now depends on the usage of cyberspace—everything from small-business activities, banking, government departments or online shopping that a lot of people engage in. All of those things are operated and accessed online and have opened up so many great opportunities. We are all experiencing this increased digital world and its benefits.

While it does bring family-positive opportunities to aspects of modern life, it also brings a range of concerns that we have to address, particularly those that relate to the safety of children and young people online. We can already benefit so much. We see so many aspects of health care, education and employment depending upon online access. That is all very good and we do all benefit, but we do have to look at some of the downsides as well.

This evolution within our technological advances has opened up to families more opportunities and so many new worlds of communication, contacts, friendships and social interactions. Very exciting and innovative approaches have occurred because of this evolution in technology, particularly as we have heard from other speakers that in emergency situations social media is utilised by many communities and often provides a vital link to services and information. So there is no doubt it brings to us an absolutely huge benefit with those advances.

We are also very much aware of the downsides of this medium and the negative impact it can have on the lives of our children. We know now that mobile phones, the internet and social networking can sometimes be the new playground for cyberbullying. Cyberbullying primarily affects young people because they are the biggest users of digital media.

We have increased engagement in addressing these issues. There already have been some initiatives taken in relation to cyberbullying; in fact, there have been many multifaceted approaches in taking action against cyberbullying. These include the Australian Federal Police's Child Protection Operations team, which investigates online child-sex exploitation. They are doing a fantastic job in that role. Other measures include the regulator, ACMA, the Australian Communications and Media Authority, which has a cybersmart program comprising an extensive range of cybersafety education initiatives. There is also the ThinkUKnow website, which assists parents and children in dealing with the risks posed by online predators. There are really good initiatives too like the Youth Advisory Group on CyberSafety. I note that the social-media companies have been very proactive and have taken active positive steps to stop online bullying as well, and I commend them on their involvement and proactive stance on that.

This bill seeks to create an independent children's e-safety commissioner, whose responsibility it will be to take a national leadership role in the ever-growing concerns around the safety of our children in the cyberworld. The commissioner will have in place the necessary structures that will allow an effective complaints system that can react swiftly to those materials considered harmful on social media sites. It will remove those materials considered to be of a cyberbullying nature targeted at Australian children.

The bill will set out the commissioner's functions and powers, and e-structures will be supported by appropriate legislation. The children's e-safety commissioner will be an independent statutory office within the Australian Communications and Media Authority. Under this proposed legislation, a child or their representative can complain to the commissioner about their having been the subject of cyberbullying material, and the commissioner may investigate such complaints.

The bill sets out an expectation of the parliament that each social-media service will comply with a set of basic online safety requirements. These include minimum standards in a service providers terms and conditions of use, a complaint scheme and a dedicated contact person. The commissioner will have many important roles other than the administrator of the complaints process of cyberbulling material. He will play a vital pro-active role not just in policing the medium of the online world but also in taking a lead role in the promotion of online safety and the coordination of relevant activities of Commonwealth departments, authorities and agencies.

The role will also be in supporting, conducting, accrediting and evaluating educational and community-awareness programs, and advising the minister. The commissioner's powers will extend to the investigation of complaints, which can be made on behalf of children, their parents or guardians—or indeed any responsible person. The bill sets out an expectation that each social-media service will comply with a set of basic online safety requirements. These include those minimum standards that need to be in place. The bill will set out a two-tiered scheme for the rapid removal of cyberbullying material from social-media services.

Tier 1 is of a voluntary nature and is not subject to legally-binding notices or penalties. Tier 1 applicants would apply for this status in writing and would have to demonstrate to the commissioner the adherence to suitable complaints management and response standards.

The commissioner would have the power to request that the provider of a tier l service remove cyberbullying material within 48 hours. This is in a case where the commissioner receives notification that the material was not removed following a complaint made under the service's complaints scheme. Repeated failure to comply, to the satisfaction of the commissioner, may result in removal of the tier 1 status.

Tier 2 would be determined by the minister and subject to legally-binding notices and penalties, such as the issuing of a 'social media service notice' by the commissioner, which would require the removal of material targeted at Australian children. Only large social-media services could be declared subject to tier 2 regulation.

The commissioner would also have the ability to name and shame those social-media services that fail to comply with the basic online safety requirements, who ignore requests to remove targeted subject material, and to issue a social-media service notice by way of a statement regarding non-compliance or publishing it on its website. Civil-penalty provisions only arise in relation to non-compliance with the issuing of a social-media service notice. The commissioner would also have the power to issue notices to those who post cyberbullying material, including a requirement for them to remove that material. Non-compliance with such a notice would result in injunctive relief.

Labor has always been committed to doing all we can to combat online child bullying. It was Labor who established the Joint Select Committee on Cyber-Safety, in 2010, as part of our commitment to investigate and improve cybersafety measures. The committee released its interim report—High-Wire Act: Cybersafety and the youngin June 2011, containing 32 recommendations that were endorsed. The central themes were a focus on education and a multifaceted approach.

It is important to remember that while there is a role for policing and regulation—and that is very important in supporting the legislation today—we also must look at the value of education. In January 2013 Labor launched a new cybersafety program educating primary aged children on how to stay safe online. Labor has always sought to work with the community and industry and get their input and make sure there is consultation when it comes to important measures like this. We are conscious of the concerns raised by some parts of the sector in relation to this legislation, but, when we are talking about protecting our young people from online bullies, it is worth trialling and investing time and resources into any new approaches and any new measures. That is why I particularly support this bill. I think we should be looking at these new measures.

We know that young people aged 14 to 17 have the highest rate of internet usage, with 91 per cent going online weekly. Whilst the exploding use of online chat and social networking sites has provided great advances and assistance for young people, it is still an area of concern, as we see bullying increasing. As the Chief Executive Officer of the Alannah and Madeline Foundation, Dr Judith Slocombe, has said:

There is no difference between someone who bullies online and one who bullies face-to-face. They are just different methods. They both can cause enormous harm.

Whilst that is true, it is important to note that bullying does not stop at the end of the school day. Through social media, chat and texts a bully can have direct access to their victims 24 hours a day, and that is indeed a concern. So it is not just happening at school; it is happening after school—at home, at the shops, at the movies and wherever children might be. Research has also shown that children are far more unlikely to report a case of cyberbullying than face-to-face bullying. The new and unrelenting nature of this bullying has led to many kids' lives being turned into a real misery, with sometimes very devastating consequences. This new form of bullying can hound our kids from the classroom to their homes, via the vast array of different ways people can access the internet.

According to research by the University of New South Wales Social Policy Research Centre, one in five of our nation's children aged between 10 and 17 has experienced some sort of cyberbullying. That is quite a large number. It is worth noting that many instances will of course go unreported. As I have said, the consequences of cyberbullying can be devastating. Evidence suggests that students who were cyberbullied report lower levels of connectedness and higher levels of loneliness at school as well as feeling less safe at school. They are also more likely to experience psychological or mental health problems as a result of being a victim of cyberbullying.

As I have said, I acknowledge there have been some concerns around the practical implementation of parts of this legislation. The shadow minister, in her speech to the House, noted there are concerns expressed by the Digital Policy Group of the Australian Interactive Media Industry Association, or AIMIA, which represents some of the major social media companies. It is also important to acknowledge many of the proactive steps being taken by communications and social media organisations. As AIMIA states in its submission, its member bodies:

… have policies that expressly prohibit bullying; we invest in a reporting infrastructure that allows the millions of people who use our services to report any bullying content to us; we promptly review and action those reports; and, we undertake online safety outreach and awareness-raising.

There are also many antibullying organisations in Australia who are working very hard to protect our children online. I would like to note the efforts of the Alannah and Madeline Foundation on the recent launch of the eSmart Digital Licence, a really great initiative. It is an online tool designed to educate and protect children against cyberbullying. It must also be mentioned that Google contributed $1.2 million to the program to ensure the digital licence is available to all year 6 students across Australia. It is a similar concept to the 'pen licence' a child obtains when they are ready to give up their pencil and are able to use a pen. I think it is a really great initiative.

As noted by the AIMIA Digital Policy Group in its submission to the Senate committee:

… online safety is best achieved when government, industry, and the community work together.

I totally agree with that sentiment. It is essential for the government to be working with the community in this matter. It is essential that government move with the evolving nature of digital technology and respond in a meaningful and purposeful manner to protect as best we can our children from online bullying or predatory behaviour or online violence. We all share a responsibility for that as individuals, parents, communities and governments. I recognise that it is really important that we are taking action now and into the future in relation to this issue, particularly as we are seeing an increase in the prevalence of online bullying and its impacts upon children. So it is important to have legislation like this in place.

The opposition believes strongly that we have a responsibility to do all that we can to prevent damaging outcomes caused by online bullying. I certainly commend all of those different groups that already have measures in place for the action that they have taken. It is good to see everyone working together and continuing to do so. It is important that we continue to work in a bipartisan way, as we have been doing in relation to this matter of online safety, and work very closely with industry, who, as I say, have been taking a very proactive approach to this as well. At the end of the day, it is important we work together to ensure we have greater protections in place for our children when it comes to the increasing prevalence of online bullying. I am sure every member in this House has had their local constituents, friends and family approach them about this. I think everyone in some way has been touched by the prevalence of online bullying and they know only too well firsthand the impact that it can have upon its victims and upon families. For all those reasons, I support this legislation. It is an important move towards making sure that our children are kept safe online.

David Gillespie (Lyne, National Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I rise to speak on the Enhancing Online Safety for Children Bill 2014 and the Enhancing Online Safety for Children (Consequential Amendments) Bill 2014. This legislation fulfils an election commitment that we made to protect Australian children. This is also something that has been promoted in discussion papers and in very broad industry and community consultation. Before we go on, I would just like to define for the House what I mean, and what the legislation means, by cyberbullying. Some of my constituents who are not familiar with this have raised this issue: what is cyberbullying? They read about it. Basically cyberbullying is a phenomenon of the digital age. It is using electronic digital media to seriously threaten, intimidate, harass or humiliate a person. This issue is so important because so many of our children now are connected in a digital way, through social media or texting.

In days gone by, bullying was always there. It has been a feature of schoolyards and social communities for generations. The issue that is different with cyberbullying is that the schoolyard is exponentially larger and more connected. We have all heard about issues going viral in the digital space. If cyberbullying happens, it has the potential to go viral. Threats, intimidation, harassment and humiliation can spread like wildfire through digital media. Digital media is so universal now. Whether it is a smartphone, a tablet or hard-wired computers at home, it is pervasive particularly with youth culture. Depending on which age group is surveyed, the incidence of cyberbullying is quite frightening. I have seen figures of six per cent for one age group up to the other extreme that up to 40 per cent for teenagers to the age of 16 have experienced some form of cyberbullying, whether it is profound and severe or short term. That is a scary phenomenon.

The phenomenon too is that it does not go away. The schoolyard bully can be sorted out in the schoolyard. You could escape a schoolyard bully and go home; you could retreat to your friends. But if someone is harassing you online, it is very hard to combat. This bullying can have long-term serious effects on mental health and self-esteem, and can create anxiety and depression. The perpetrator is perpetually out of reach and it is hard to respond to that.

This legislation will give parents and children a mechanism. They will now have a system by which they can respond if this phenomenon is happening to them and they cannot resolve it person to person. The essence of this legislation is the establishment of a Children's e-Safety Commissioner. He or she will have several powers. The first is a promotional role where the Children's e-Safety Commissioner can promote research about online e-safety and occasionally make grants of financial assistance in relation to rolling out online e-safety programs for children. They will have a role, most importantly, of intervention and be able to enforce undertakings both to online services and to individuals posting bullying material. Material and behaviour that appear on large media sites as well as people posting bullying material will be under his or her remit of responsibility.

None of us on the coalition like overdoing or creating a nanny state. But the internet is a new phenomenon and you do not have the power of a personality to fight this sort of bullying. We need systems in place because of the reach of the internet. It is a light-touch system of enforcement. There will be two tiers of service created under the legislation. Tier 1 is the level that everyone is in. Any media service whether large or small will be voluntarily enrolled in the tier 1 system. Tier 1 is universal. It is not a question of having misbehaved to be a tier 1 service. But if there is an issue of bullying, a tier 1 service can be notified that there is a problem, and they either stop posting it and remove it if they are an individual or remove the bullying material from their site if it is a social media site.

Tier 2 is the so-called naughty corner where the minister can direct someone to become a tier 2 service—that is a service that has not complied with requests to remove offensive material. Once a site or a social media organisation is in tier 2, the Children's e-Safety Commissioner can issue a compliance notice, and there are consequences. If they repeatedly fail to act on the notices served upon them or on an individual, they can be fined up to 170,000 units. Up to 100 units can be levied and each unit is worth $170, so that means a $17,000 fine—and that is per day. So there are some teeth to the enforcement scenario that the legislation sets up.

The notices are of a certain type. There is an end-user notice which will be levied to a person posting aggressive material. The person or the party making the aggressive post will have to comply. A social media service is to a broader body; it is to the body that may not have posted it but is hosting the site where the bullying is occurring. It is pleasing to hear that all the large social media services that we are familiar—whether it be the huge ones like Google or Facebook—are complying with this.

Hopefully no-one will ever be in that tier 2 space. Usually a letter to the offender from a legal officer of some sort results in the situation being resolved there and then. The Children's e-Safety Commissioner can notify police of appropriate intervention. An injunction can be sought. All sorts of interventions can be made before a body, either an individual or a huge organisation, is declared tier 2.

My electorate of Lyne has a mixed demographic. It is now not unusual for children once they get to their teens to have their own mobile phone. As you know, the internet is available to them whether they have got an iPad, iPhone or one of the many other smartphones. Facebook is permeating youth just as it is everyone else.

Fortunately, in our electorate, internet services are improving all the time due to the actions of the coalition government in fixing and delivering the rollout of the NBN. We have got 17 towers of fixed wireless capability being rolled out across the electorate. New announcements have been made for improved internet services in Taree where we have got fibre to the premise being rolled out, including in the CBD and to the north-west of Taree in Cundletown; moving up with fixed wireless towers near Harrington and into the Camden Haven where improvements will be rolled out in the very near future.

With the internet being so pervasive, this phenomenon of social bullying is quite prevalent as I have mentioned—up to 40 per cent; that is a scary figure. I must admit my children have never told me they have been bullied on the internet, but these surveys are quite reliable. It is a real issue for parents, so there will be a mechanism for parents to complain to, there will be a mechanism to effect a notice to the end user—that is, the person who is posting it or the site that is hosting the offensive material. Hopefully, with the promotion of the Children's e-Safety Commissioner and the rolling out of these programs, the issue will fade. I do not think we will ever get rid of it, but it is our duty to look after members of our society. So I commend this bill to the House and, hopefully, it will be put to good use.

Tony Zappia (Makin, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Parliamentary Secretary for Manufacturing) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I support the Enhancing Online Safety for Children Bill 2014 and I do so because, amongst other things, I was a member of the parliamentary committee that several years ago was responsible for the inquiry into this very issue, which resulted in the report entitled High wire act: cybersafety and the young. That report was submitted to parliament in 2011 and contained some 30-odd recommendations. Amongst those recommendations was a whole range of things which I think, ultimately, led to the legislation that is before us today.

The central purpose of this legislation is to establish the position of the Children's e-Safety Commissioner. The key functions of the commissioner will be, firstly, to: administer a complaints system for cyberbullying targeted at a child; take responsibility for administering the online content scheme; and, thirdly, arrange for the removal of offending material using a two-tiered system that other members who have contributed to this debate have discussed.

The bill also creates a complaints system for cyberbullying material targeted at an Australian child; creates the two-tiered system, which I just mentioned a moment ago; provides for civil penalties, enforceable undertakings and injunctions should the need arise; and establishes the Children's Online Safety Special Account to fund the commissioner's functions.

The genesis of this position was the Joint Select Committee Inquiry into Cyber-Safety carried out in 2011. It was a fairly extensive inquiry, and I can recall visiting a number of places around the country as well as people coming here to Parliament House to make their submissions. In particular, I can also recall that at the end of the inquiry there was an online survey to which some 33,751 participants responded—mostly from 10 to 15 years of age; I understand that over 80 per cent of them were in that age category. That is a lot of people and, in particular, a lot of young people making their views known about their concerns about bullying.

I might come back to that a little later, but this is an issue that is so widespread in the community and yet, to date, in my view we have not been able to somehow get on top of it. I say that with the full understanding that there have been many, many attempts and efforts by groups to try and get on top of cyberbullying in the community, particularly as it relates to young people. But I am not so sure that the problem no longer exists; I believe in fact that it does quite extensively when you go around your community.

I have been to many of the schools in my own electorate where I am aware, again, that this is a critical issue for them. Again, I commend and compliment all of the initiatives that I have seen by different schools as they too try to grapple with what is a very complex issue.

We know that we live in a rapidly changing world, and much of the change is being driven by innovation in cybertechnology, which continues to change our lives at an ever-increasing pace. Indeed the internet and social media are literally consuming the lives of so many people today—and that concerns me.

In June 2014, a report estimated that, over a 12-month period, around 20 per cent of Australians aged 8 to17 have been victims of cyberbullying—that translates to around 463,000 children in this age group who have been affected. Those figures are only estimates; however, I would not be surprised if they are even higher. One of the problems that was made very, very clear in the course of our inquiry was that young people are very reluctant to talk about cyberbullying when it does occur. They are reluctant because, firstly, they often feel embarrassed about the fact that it is happening to them. Secondly, they feel that there is little that can be done about it anyway, and so they let it ride and, quite often, suffer in silence. Indeed I know some young people who, as a result of cyberbullying, have decided that their best option was to change schools and go somewhere else. That in itself is a problem. It is an even greater problem that the bullying may well continue outside of school hours right into the family home, which would otherwise have been considered a safe haven. Again, we have been unable to manage what is truly a major problem out there in the community.

The issue of cybersystems in the community generally has led to a whole range of problems, from computer hacking right through to child pornography, money scamming, money and identity theft. And then comes bullying. It seems that we have been able to get a better handle on all the others because in most cases we are dealing with adults, and our laws are better structured to deal with offences when they are committed by an adult. When it comes to cyberbullying, it seems that in many instances the perpetrator is a young person, and because they are a young person it is much more difficult to deal with them in the way that we would otherwise do if it were an adult we were dealing with

That is why the joint standing committee's report of 2011 contained 32 different recommendations, all of which addressed different aspects of the problem in the hope that those different actions would collectively make a real difference to how we manage this problem. That report was nearly four years ago, and whilst I accept that there have been considerable changes in the cyberworld with respect to hardware and software and the number of interactive social sites that are now available, I believe the issue of cyberbullying has not changed a lot and is still prevalent out there.

As the previous speaker said, cyberbullying could be described—and I cannot recall his precise definition—as the posting of menacing, harassing, offensive or intimidating material online. Obviously, it is done for a particular purpose by the perpetrator. Depending on the actual language used and the way it is sent it is it very difficult to manage. But what is clear is that it is widespread amongst young people. Indeed, we know that in some cases young people have been driven to suicide. There have been reports of several cases of suicide which have been attributed to cyberbullying—I guess no-one will know precisely whether there were other factors in there—but if it leads to that kind of consequence then it is clearly time that we take action, and action that might provide the kinds of support services that will prevent that from happening in the future.

This is not a problem which is unique to Australia. It is a problem that you will find around the world. I note that many other countries have, like Australia, grappled with it to try to deal with it and have implemented their own laws in a similar way to what we are doing here in this parliament today.

I also note that one of the most effective strategies is to have a better education process in place, that educates not only the young person but the young person's friends, their acquaintances, their family members and, where the school is involved, the broader school community. Quite often it is as the result of the intervention of those close friends, family members or other members of the school community that the cyberbullying comes to an end.

It is also very much the case that at times the perpetrator remains anonymous, and that makes the issue more difficult to deal with. We heard in the course of the inquiry from many young people who received different text messages and the like, about the grief it caused them and their inability to respond either because, as I said earlier, they did not know who was sending the messages or because they felt there was nobody to turn to.

There have been a number of other community-wide programs with which I am familiar, and I commend the people who have got involved in putting those programs together. I also want to mention that in the course of the inquiry I held a forum in my own electorate with the member for Gorton, who at the time was the Australian minister for police. We also had the AFP and South Australia Police on hand, as well as educators in the area and many of the families and children who live in my electorate. It was interesting to note from that forum that the issues raised, the comments made and the concerns brought to our attention were entirely consistent with the kind of feedback we had received in the course of the inquiry that the parliamentary committee had carried out. It just confirmed to me that we were on the right track with respect to the recommendations that arose from that inquiry.

I do note that the government has allocated $7.5 million for the online safety education and that one of the roles of the commissioner is to accredit online safety education programs. Bearing in mind that education is fundamental to resolving this issue, I believe this is a worthwhile initiative. It will be interesting to how it plays out and whether it makes a difference. I know that the federal government has already got cyberbullying online safety education programs in place and they have been taken up by schools in my area—and I imagine around the country—with some beneficial effect. But clearly more needs to be done.

The real problem with all of this is that we deal with a problem that quite often arises amongst young people who are under adult-age; therefore, it is difficult to bring them before the courts in a way which is going to responsibly resolve the matter. This is unlike when we are dealing with adults; it is much more complex dealing with young people. Indeed we have right now in this country several laws that could be applied with respect to cyberbullying if the authorities chose to use them. It has always been an offence to use a carriage service to threaten to kill or cause serious harm to anybody.

Each state has its own anti-stalking laws. Complaints could be made to the Australian Human Rights Commission. The Australian Broadcasting Services Act 1992 regulates online content and, in particular, illegal and offensive content. Each one of those actions could be used as a remedy. But the truth is that none of them would seem to be appropriate when you are dealing with a perpetrator who may be a young person.

In most cases the best solution is to get the perpetrator, the victim, the parents and school counsellors together to talk the issue through and resolve it in a satisfactory way, bearing in mind that we are dealing with young people. That is the aim of this process, as I understand; the commissioner has the ability to talk to the police and the education authorities and try to bring those parties together. The commissioner also has the role of trying to oversee the government's policies more broadly; managing this whole process of cyberbullying, and ensuring that the remedies we currently have in place are indeed effective; and, if they are not, then perhaps recommending to the government other alternative actions.

Finally—and this is where I see the real importance of this position—again, it was clear to me in the course of our inquiry that the young people felt they had no-one to turn to who would truly listen to them and take their complaints and concerns seriously. This position creates an office for them to be able to do that. It gives them someone to turn to, even if it is someone they do not personally confront; they can pass the information on, through the online system that will be available for them. And at least they will know that someone at the end of the line will take their concerns seriously and then take the appropriate action. With those comments, I reiterate that we support this legislation.

Melissa Price (Durack, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

These bills before us are a demonstration of this government's election commitment to enhance online safety for children, including: appointing a Children's e-Safety Commissioner to take a national leadership role in online safety; and implementing a complaints system, backed by legislation, that will get cyberbullying material aimed at our children taken down quickly from large social media sites.

The legislation was developed following considerable public and stakeholder consultation, and took account of more than 80 submissions in response to the discussion paper Enhancing online safety for children, which was released in January 2014. In addition to the commissioner and complaints system, the online safety bill: provides for the Commissioner to make a cyberbully remove material and to stop posting further material; provides for the cyberbully to apologise to the child; provides for some enforcement mechanisms for the commissioner; provides an account to fund the commissioner's activities; and, importantly, enables the commissioner to disclose information in certain circumstances.

Clearly, cyberbullying and online safety are important community issues—whether you are in the city or the bush, these issues are important to all individuals and families. Cyberbullying affects all of us, particularly younger people who are more vulnerable. But what do we mean by cyber-bullying?

Cyberbullying is when someone is tormented through any form of technology. This is a modern-day problem. New research commissioned by the Abbott government last year showed that one in five Australian children aged eight to 17 experiences cyberbullying each year. The successful passage of this legislation will be a powerful deterrent for cyberbullies and will help keep our children safe, providing some security and protection. The findings show that cyberbullying is widespread and that there is substantial community distress about whether there are adequate response mechanisms available.

I was pleased that our government announced funding of $10 million in the May budget for a policy of enhancing online safety for children, which includes: $7.5 million to assist schools to purchase accredited online safety programs; $2.4 million to establish and operate the Office of the Children's e-Safety Commissioner; support for Australian based research and information campaigns on online safety.

Parents in my electorate of Durack periodically speak with me about their alarm and apprehension for their children and the online safety issue. We ask ourselves: 'Do I know where my children are, who they are with and what they are doing?' It should be no different when they are online. Because of my concern, I organised some cybersafety workshops in Durack. We had around 500 students and teachers in Geraldton, thanks to the good grace and skill of my very talented colleague, the member for Forrest. The workshop presentation addressed the risks associated with social media like Facebook and Twitter; cyberbullying; your child's digital footprint; what it means to be groomed online; your mobile phone and its security weaknesses, such as location services; and, of course, scams.

Students from Allendale Primary School, St Lawrence's Primary School and Geraldton Senior College participated in five workshops to learn of the dangers and management strategies for using technology. A further 50 teachers from Geraldton Senior College attended a workshop, many of whom are also parents. The workshops addressed unwanted contact, online friends, rude messages and online gaming; as well as how to recognise the associated dangers, and strategies for managing them.

If children are being cyberbullied, they need to 'block' or 'ignore' the contact, and tell a parent or responsible adult. The presentations were adapted by the member for Forrest, to be age-appropriate—that was where the skill came in—but the message was the same. The children at the workshops learnt to be smart, safe and responsible when using technology, and the teachers learnt to be vigilant.

The feedback from the schoolchildren, parents and teachers was quite overpowering. Many teachers and principals talked about the 'new' workload that had been created for them. This real and new workload emanated: from online bullying; from the endeavours of teachers and principals to protect their students; and from trying to manage new and distracting student behaviours related to bullying—sulking, feeling humiliated, not wanting to attend class, being on the outer of friendship groups, having poor attendance, and being unable to concentrate in class. As if the teachers do not have enough to do. This is obviously adding to their considerable workload.

Cybersafety is a dark issue; many of us, of course, do not understand it. It is a case of what you do not know will not hurt you. But, as we have heard in this debate, for many people, it can hurt. Ignorance is your enemy when it comes to online safety. This is not helped by the fact that many of our children are provided mobile and internet services at very young ages. They are phoning, emailing, texting and accessing sites from early primary school. It means they and others have direct access to all sorts of things, much of which can be harmful.

For youngsters, the 10- to 15-year-old age group in particular, it is the posting of humiliating or down-right harmful photos, videos, rumours, gossip and confidences which are then exacerbated by features that share and broadcast the damaging content that sees our children often get very upset. There can be awful consequences associated with online issues and bullying, as we have heard many speak about in this debate. A child can experience extreme anxiety; they do not want to go to school; they lose friends; they cannot face certain people. No-one wants rumours and damaging content broadcast for all the world to see, especially if it is gossip or untrue.

The following quotes are a taste from my electorate, from concerned citizens about cyber bullying, which I have taken from the Geraldton Guardian website. Vivien of Geraldton says:

Of course it is a growing problem. Ask any of the kids in Geraldton and they will probably tell you. It is not just limited to Facebook either; it is nasty messages, emails, photos being sent around. It is a serious problem and the law does not deal with it. Most of the problem is that people are so unaware of it—in terms of kids—because some parents don't know how to use a computer. Guess the first step is to ignore it, but it won't just stop.

This particular person is studying education and so has a particular interest in this from a research perspective. Lisa Marie from Geraldton said:

It's not just kids.... on the radio today I heard about parents slandering a school principal on Facebook. Many people who comment on Geraldton Guardian page, Sunrise page et cetera bully others and say hurtful things just cause they have a different opinion to them.    when the adults stop doing it, the kids may follow.

Jenny from Geraldton said:

Most bullies are basically cowards, so internet is perfect for them. They are nothing but keyboard warriors.

I think we here in this House today would agree with many of those comments. As I said, these issues are most prevalent amongst the 10- to 15-year-old very sensitive age group; fortunately, the incidence of online bullying does start to decrease around age 16 to 17. As parents, some of us have seen behaviours that are problematic. Sadly, we have heard of severe cases that have led to depression and suicidal thoughts, and the ultimate taking of a young person's life.

Let us not forget the crime side of online safety. It is right that the new newly appointed commissioner, through the successful passage of this bill, will work closely with police, government agencies, the internet industry, child protection agencies and parent and teacher associations. And for those who break the law, if a provider of social media service fails to comply, it will be liable to pay a penalty, potentially $17,000 per day for each day it fails to respond. There are also enforcement provisions, court injunctions, et cetera which are welcome.

I reiterate my support for the online safety bill and its amendments. And know that I can speak confidently on behalf of the constituents of Durack, who would throw their support behind this bill as well.

They have asked me, in my role as their local member, to do what I can in the parliament to fight cyberbullying, to protect and keep their children safe. On that basis, I commend the bill to the House.

Jenny Macklin (Jagajaga, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Minister for Families and Payments) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Few thoughts concern the mind of parents more than the safety of their children. In recent years, we have seen shocking cases of cyber bullying make headlines across the country.

One terrible story is the case of Sheniz Erkan, a 14-year-old Melbourne girl. A week short of her 15th birthday, she took her own life—a beautiful young woman with her whole life ahead of her. The outpouring of grief that followed her death demonstrated the community's resolve to ensure that this heartbreaking loss of life should never happen again.

Her devastated family pleaded with parents to keep a closer eye on their children's internet use. But even the most vigilant parent cannot realistically monitor their child's every interaction on the internet. An estimated 90 per cent of 12- to 17- year-olds in Australia use social media—and I imagine that is an underestimate. A majority of Australian teenagers over the age of 14 use Facebook more than once a day. With the proliferation of smart phones and tablets, access to social media has never been easier. All this comes with a lot of risk.

Research by the Australian Communications and Media Authority indicates four per cent of eight- to nine-year-olds; 21 per cent of 14- to 15-year-olds; and 16 per cent of 16- to17-year-olds reported being cyberbullied. And it is not just parents that are worried about the growth in cyberbullying. Internal emails from Twitter CEO, Dick Costolo, revealed that he had admitted to his staff that he is 'ashamed' and 'embarrassed' by how his company handled bullying and harassment among its users. He stated:

We suck at dealing with abuse and trolls on the platform and we've sucked at it for years. It's no secret and the rest of the world talks about it every day. We lose core user after core user by not addressing simple trolling issues that they face every day.

These very revealing emails capture the scale of the problem that we face. Not even one of the largest social media companies in the world has worked out how to deal with cyberbullying. Nonetheless that is the objective of the bill that we are talking about today.

The Enhancing Online Safety for Children Bill 2014, seeks to reduce the risk of our young people becoming victims of cyberbullying. Dr Judith Slocombe, Chief Executive of the Alannah and Madeline Foundation, a national charity protecting children from violence said:

There is no difference between someone who bullies online and one who bullies face-to-face. They are just different methods. They both can cause enormous harm.

There are laws in every state and territory which cover all forms of bullying. This bill backs up these laws for the digital age. It establishes a Children's e-Safety Commissioner and sets out its functions and powers. In practice, the establishment of the commissioner will mean a child or their parent will be able to complain to the commissioner if they have been the subject of cyberbullying. The commissioner may then investigate such a complaint.

The bill sets out an expectation that each social media service will comply with a set of basic online safety requirements. This includes minimum standards in a service provider's terms and conditions of use, a complaints scheme and a dedicated contact person. The establishment of a Children's e-Safety Commissioner is an important step in the right direction. Along with all members, I hope that the establishment of a dedicated Children's e-Safety Commissioner will lift the profile of cyberbullying. This will help to generate further the conversation in the Australian community about what to do. The primary role of the commissioner will be to resolve existing acts of cyberbullying, but we have to accept that cyberbullying is as much a social problem as a technological one. Bullying occurred long before the advent of the internet. The internet does enable the bully to remain anonymous and unaccountable for the torment they create. Preventing the bullying from occurring in the first place is vital to countering cyberbullying.

I am pleased to say in my electorate two local schools in particular have taken such an approach. Viewbank College, a secondary school, and Concord School are taking a positive and proactive approach to countering cyberbullying. Concord School is a special school for students with learning needs, while Viewbank is a large public secondary school with students from a diverse range of backgrounds. In 2013, the two schools established a cybersafety program that saw mainstream year 9 students from Viewbank and special education year 9 students from Concord come together to promote understanding and acceptance of difference.

The program was designed to help students develop strategies for dealing with issues arising from cyberbullying, sexting and unsafe content. I am told the project was very successful. Students from both schools engaged with the topic of cybersafety and enjoyed discussing issues, sharing ideas and collaborating with students from another school. Importantly, the program yielded results. Teachers noticed a change in attitude from the students participating in the program. Just to use one example, towards the end of the project in 2013, a student began to have some issues on Facebook. The student felt the issues were too difficult for her to handle alone. She drew on the skills she had learned in the program and collected evidence, saved it into a folder and discussed it with her mother. The child's mother was very impressed with how her daughter handled the issue and contacted the school, where the issue was resolved.

I do want to especially commend Concord School and Viewbank secondary for their innovative and collaborative approach to tackling cyberbullying in the local community. I want to acknowledge the outstanding leadership of Judith Craze and Ross Purcell at Viewbank; Pam Wright, the e-learning coordinator at Concord; and Claire Park. Pam Wright, who conceived the program understood, that many of the special needs students at Concord had experienced bullying at mainstream schools. She understood that interactions between the two cohorts of students needed to be on a different level, so Pam came up with the idea of students working together to make short films about cyberbullying. The project culminated in a showcase evening of the students' work, where the films were displayed.

Concord School also became the first special school in Australia to become a part of the Alannah and Madeline Foundation's eSmart Schools cyberbullying program. This eSmart program helps establish important behavioural norms early in a child's life. This includes things like asking someone for permission before taking a photo of them on a smart phone, asking the permission of an adult before purchasing items online and, perhaps most importantly of all, establishing a dialogue between child and parent about their online activity. Establishing this last norm is vital if a child is to share experiences of cyberbullying with their parents.

This approach serves to underline an important truth about cyberbullying: changing the attitudes of our young people so that cyberbullying is prevented from occurring in the first place and equipping students with the emotional skills to deal with the challenges of cyberbullying when it does occur is essential to any approach to this problem. It is also worth noting a success achieved by the eSmart program include that 80 per cent of school principals believe that eSmart Schools is effective in changing school culture in relation to cybersafety, technology use and bullying. The message from the report is clear: no one action or approach will do.

Many of the contributions by members on this bill have been very personal and I do want to recognise that there is much goodwill towards this initiative. We will certainly be supporting it. We were pleased, when we were in government, to establish a cybersafety plan in 2008 with funding of $125.8 million, which was committed to combating online risks and helping parents and educators to protect children from inappropriate material. I do support this bill because I know that parents in my electorate expect me to do everything that I can to help them protect their children. It is my hope that this bill will help children and their parents resolve matters of cyberbullying before any harm comes to them. I commend the bill to the House.

Nola Marino (Forrest, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I am actually doing everything I can to help young people stay safe online. I have delivered at least 250 cybersafety presentations to students, parents and community members. I have listened to thousands of young people in the process. I know that for the overwhelming majority—I think the figure is around 95 per cent—the net is their world. They are voracious users who see connectivity and devices as almost as essential as breathing. I know they face risks every day online. I know they want to be happy and safe online. I also know that many of them assume that they are safe; that is, until they have a problem.

Bruce Scott (Maranoa, Deputy-Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Order! The debate is interrupted in accordance with standing order 43. The debate may be resumed at a later hour, and the honourable member for Forrest will have leave to continue her remarks at that time.