It is important that parents and carers understand what young people see, say and do online in order to know how to take action to prevent online challenges.
There are various crimes which impact children, and some advice for parents and carers includes:
Online child sexual exploitation
- Online child sexual exploitation is the use of technology or the internet to facilitate the sexual abuse of a child, including the production and sharing of child sexual abuse material online
- It includes a wide range of behaviours and situations. Most commonly this includes grooming, live streaming, consuming child sexual abuse material, and coercing and blackmailing children for sexual purposes
- This could include:
- An adult engaging a child in a chat about sexual acts
- An adult sending nude or pornographic images of themselves to a child or exposing themselves via live streaming
- Asking a child to view pornographic images/videos
- Asking a child to perform sexual acts, expose themselves or share a sexual image
- Taking or making and sharing or showing indecent images of children.
- Online child sexual exploitation is often thought of as adults abusing children, however, research indicates that more and more child exploitation material is being shared via social media, and is being produced by children themselves. This is sometimes called self-generated sexual content and often takes the form of ‘sexting’ which is requesting, capturing and sharing of explicit material
- A child may be or feel pressured, forced or coerced into taking and sharing these explicit images with their peers or friends.
- If you or your child discovers sexual content of themselves has been shared online, the eSafety Commissioner can also assist with having this removed
- It’s important to have open and honest conversations with your children and ensure they’d feel comfortable telling a trusted adult if they are contacted by someone they don’t know
- Understand what children See, Say and Do online at ThinkUKnow.org.au
- More advice for parents and carers about online child exploitation can be found on the ACCCE website
- If you believe your child is in immediate danger, call Triple Zero (000)
- Inappropriate online behaviour towards children can be reported to the Australian Centre to Counter Child Exploitation
- You can also report crime to local police by calling 131 444 or Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000 or the Crime Stoppers website
Sadistic online exploitation
- Sadistic Online Exploitation (SOE) is the deliberate and malicious use of the internet to harm, manipulate or exert control over others for personal pleasure, gratification, sense of power, ideological beliefs or to corrupt victims and inflict ongoing harm. This will often incorporate alternative forms of psychological, emotional, or physical abuse through digital means
- Offenders from violent online groups use threats, blackmail and online manipulation to coerce victims into producing, sharing or live streaming acts of self-harm, animal cruelty, sexually explicit acts and in the most serious cases, suicide
- It is a form of online exploitation by people in known extremist online groups who manipulate victims to engage in progressively violent acts
- Potential warning signs that a child or young person is a victim of SOE could include:
- Signs of self-harm including carvings of symbols on their skin, bite marks and burns
- Changes in eating or sleeping habits
- Sudden withdrawal from family, friends, and/or usual activities
- Secretive online behaviour, or extended periods of use with online devices
- Use of extreme language, symbols and rejection of previously held morals.
- If you believe your child is in immediate danger, call Triple Zero (000)
- Inappropriate online behaviour towards children can be reported to the Australian Centre to Counter Child Exploitation
- You can also report crime to local police by calling 131 444 or Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000 or the Crime Stoppers website
Information about reporting other types of online issues, including harmful content, image-based abuse/sextortion, cyberbullying, cybercrimes and scams is available from the ACCCE website
Radicalisation
- The AFP is concerned about the increasing prevalence and accessibility of violent extremist material, particularly among youth which is leading to an increase in youth radicalisation
- Countering this requires a holistic approach. The AFP promotes education and awareness for key individuals in protective roles, including parents, educators and health care providers, to help maximise prevention and early intervention options
- The AFP supports the increase in accountability by internet service providers and social media corporations to take action against the removal of violent extremist material online but we all must remain vigilant in this challenging, adaptive online environment
- The AFP remains alert and ready to respond to threats of radicalisation and violent extremism in Australia and amongst our most vulnerable young people
- Signs someone you know may be susceptible to radicalisation include:
- Distancing themselves from their usual friends and family members
- An increase in the extremist content, nature or rhetoric
- An increase in material or propaganda they propagate
- Using hateful or emotionally-charged language
- Developing a fixation on conspiracy theories, violence or contentious social issues
- Displaying extreme reactions to certain news or politics, or
- Spending increasing amounts of time in on the internet particularly fringe forums.
- If you believe your child is in immediate danger, call Triple Zero (000)
- You can report crime tolocal police by calling 131 444 or Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000 or the Crime Stoppers website
- If you suspect your child is being radicalised online or in person, call the National Security Hotline on 1800 123 400
- More information about countering violent extremism is available from the Step Together website
- Step Together is a helpline and digital support service for people seeking advice on how to support loved ones and protect them from negative violent extremist interest.
Hate crimes
- The Counter Terrorism Legislation Amendment (Prohibited Hate Symbols and Other Measures) Act 2023, introduced in January 2024, is legislation available to both Commonwealth and state and territory law enforcement and can be applied in conjunction with existing state and territory legislation
- A hate crime is any crime motivated by hate towards a person or group of people because of their:
- race
- religion
- sex
- sexual orientation
- gender identity
- intersex status
- disability
- nationality
- national or ethnic origin
- political opinion
- Division 80 of the Criminal Code Act 1995 (Cth) makes it clear that advocating or threatening the use of force and violence is unacceptable and will be subject to serious criminal penalties. It is a crime to:
- advocate or threaten violence against groups, their members, or close associates
- advocate or threaten damage to places of worship, or the property of group members or close associates.
- In an emergency or life-threatening situation, call Triple Zero (000)
- In all other situations, reports of crime can be made to local police by calling 131 444 or Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000 or the Crime Stoppers website
- Anyone with information about possible threats to the community should come forward, no matter how small or insignificant you think the information may be. Report suspicious activity to the National Security Hotline on 1800 123 400