Speech to the Alannah & Madeline 'Digital Licence' launch

It is a great pleasure to be here at The King’s School to be part of the launch of this very important initiative to help keep kids safe on line.

This is a powerful partnership between the Alannah and Madeline Foundation and Google – bringing together on the one hand a trusted and respected community organisation with a strong track record in the area of keeping children safe online, and on the other hand one of the world’s biggest and best known companies whose products are at the very centre of the digital lives of billions of people across our planet.

When Alannah and Madeline Mikac were tragically killed in the Port Arthur massacre, they were aged 3 and 6. 

Had they enjoyed a normal childhood, Alannah would have finished primary school in 2002 and Madeline in 2005.

But in the relatively short period since then, changes in technology have transformed the typical Aussie childhood – and created some significant new challenges for teachers, parents and kids.

One big change is the explosion in social media.  In 2005 it was barely known; today it is pervasive in the lives of Australian children.

If you go into a class of thirteen year olds, as I have done many times around Australia, and ask who is on Facebook or the other big social media services, just about every hand goes up.

Another big change: in 2005, most people got internet access over a desktop or laptop computer. Today, smart phones and tablets are extremely common – amongst children and adults.

More than three quarters of Australian now use their smartphone to access the internet – and nearly half use a tablet to get online.[1]

Amongst young people, the most recent data shows that 69% of teens with a mobile phone have a smartphone, and that 56% of teens use their mobile to get online.[2] 

That means that many, many children are using these devices to access the internet in circumstances where they are not under adult supervision.

As a consequence, we have seen the emergence of new harmful behaviours affecting children at school and at home – with cyber-bullying being of particular concern.

Research commissioned by the government last year found that 20 per cent of Australians aged 8–17 are estimated to be cyberbullied in a twelve month period.

The research found that the prevalence of cyber-bullying has “rapidly increased” since it first emerged as a behaviour.[3] 

87 per cent of secondary schools reported at least once instance of cyber-bullying in 2013, as did just under 60 per cent of primary schools.[4]

Schools are working hard to respond, with the research finding that over 83 per cent of schools had a system or policy in place for managing cyber-bullying incidents.[5]

And schools are getting support from a number of places – including the outstanding work of the Alannah and Madeline Foundation. 

The Foundation’s mission is to protect children from violence and its devastating impact – and as the internet has become a part of the lives of Australian children, their work now naturally includes helping children respond to the dangers to which the internet can expose them. 

These dangers are real – but we need to strike the right balance.

We must also recognise the enormous benefits which the internet brings.

Today’s children are better informed, better able to express their creativity, and better with technology than any previous generation.

The internet is a central part of their childhood and it will be central to their lives.

Children use the internet in its many aspects including social media for the same reason that adults do – it enriches and improves our lives, it stimulates and informs and entertains and educates us, it helps us act upon that most basic and profound human instinct, to build and maintain connections with other people.

That is why this initiative from the Alannah and Madeline Foundation and Google is so important.

The Digital Licence is designed to educate and empower children – so that they understand the dangers they may face and are equipped to deal with them.

It is not about demonising or stigmatising the internet – but equipping children to use it safely so as to capture its remarkable benefits.

The government has taken a similar approach with the Enhancing Online Safety for Children Bill, which was introduced into Parliament late last year.

This follows intense policy work – and engagement with many organisations working in the field including the Alannah and Madeline Foundation, and companies which provide social media services like Google.

This Bill will establish a new statutory office, the Children’s e-Safety Commissioner – who will take a national leadership role in online safety for children.

The Bill establishes a complaints system, backed by legislation, to get material targeted at and harmful to an Australian child, down quickly from large social media sites.

We will provide funding of $7.5 million for schools to access online safety programmes, of the kind delivered by organisations like the Alannah and Madeline Foundation.

The Abbott Government does not believe that keeping kids safe online is exclusively or even largely a job for government.

There is a very important role for technology companies – and I want to congratulate Google and Alan Noble for the leadership you have shown.

You have built a safe search capability into your core product – and you provide extensive support to non-profit groups like Alannah and Madeline.

You have also engaged very constructively with the government as we have developed the Enhancing Online Safety for Children Bill – and I want to express my thanks for that.

Your leadership today, in supporting the Digital Licence, is extremely important.

If technology companies have a big role to play, so do groups like The Alannah and Madeline Foundation.  You do outstanding work in online safety – and are very widely respected for what you do.

I want to congratulate both the Alannah and Madeline Foundation and Google for your initiative and hard work with the Digital Licence.

Thanks to these two organisations, every grade 6 student in Australia, some 300,000 students, will be able to access to the Digital Licence program, helping prepare them to be smart, safe and responsible digital citizens.

The Digital Licence program will help teachers, parents and children to approach online safety challenges with confidence, and I hope that it is an opportunity which is embraced by year 6 students across Australia.

Thank you for the opportunity to join you for the launch, and congratulations on this very important initiative.  

[1] EY ‘Digital Australia: State of the Nation 2014’ p15

[2] ACMA, ‘Aussie Teens Online’ http://www.acma.gov.au/theACMA/aussie-teens-online

[3] UNSW Synthesis Report, p2

[4] IRIS Research, p13

[5] IRIS Research, p3