Senator the Hon Helen Coonan was Minister for Communications, Information Technology and the Arts from 18 July 2004 to 3 December 2007. This site is available for archival purposes only.

Senator Stephen Conroy is the current Minister for the Department of Broadband, Communications and the Digital Economy

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Thursday 17 May 2007

Protecting our children online – a responsibility for every Australian

The Minister for Communications, Information Technology and the Arts, Senator Helen Coonan opened the Cybersafety Symposium in Melbourne today to help raise awareness about the challenges faced when it comes to protecting children online in the world of cyberspace.

“The Internet has transformed the way we communicate and although it can make a positive contribution to the way our children learn, develop and are supported, it can also pose a genuine risk to children and young people,” Senator Coonan said.

“The Australian Government is working strongly towards curbing these risks to help young people stay safe online.

“Australia is a world leader in many areas of internet policy,” Senator Coonan said.

“We are leading the world in the development of a robust anti-spam regime with the SPAM Act, and over seven years ago Australia became one of the first countries to regulate Internet content through the development of the Online Content Scheme in 1992.

“Last week, the Government introduced the Content Services Bill to protect consumers, particularly children from accessing offensive content on convergent devices such as 3G mobile phones and through subscription Internet portals.

“The introduction of new services like 3G and video services through mobile phones, means that our platform specific regulations are becoming increasingly strained as they are applied to new media forms,” Senator Coonan said.

“The Content Services Bill aligns, as far as is practical, the principles for regulation of content over online and convergent devices with those for traditional media.”

Senator Coonan said that the Government’s commitment to the protection of our children would be taken to a new level with the launch of the Government’s new Protecting Australian Families Online program in the next few months.

“This initiative is a world first and represents the single largest commitment made by an Australian Government to protect children online,” Senator Coonan said.

The Protecting Australian Families Online initiative is a $116 million package that includes:

$93.3 million to establish the new National Filter Scheme to provide every Australian household and public library with a free PC filter
$18.3 million for a national awareness campaign to educate parents about online dangers, and the provision of telephone helpline support as well as online and printed information.

“I am disappointed however at the seeming reticence by some state and local governments to take on board the free filtering products for libraries under their control.

“Not every family can afford a PC at home and many rely on those available at public libraries – it is important that children using these public computers receive the same protection available to children in private homes.

“Protecting our children is a responsibility for every Australian – it must occur across all levels of government and importantly, it must remain above politics.”

Media Contact: Fiona Telford 0439 003 191