Senator the Hon Helen Coonan
Minister for Communications,
Information Technology
and the Arts
Deputy Leader of the Government
in the Senate
Protecting Australian Families Online
Address to Australian Personal Computer Awards Night
Sydney
Wednesday 21 March
2007
Thank you Jo [Townsend, Channel Nine Business Sunday program]
It is a great pleasure to speak tonight with representatives of companies which underpin a remarkable industry.
As you all know, the ICT sector has been a key driver of economic growth and productivity gains in the Australian economy for 20 years.
Additionally, professional employment in the industry has blossomed and much of the real wage increases which Australian’s are now enjoying are in no small part due to this innovative and exciting industry.
Few can fail to be impressed with the ability of the ICT sector to rise to a challenge, to adapt and to innovate.
Tonight I wish to take this opportunity to speak about the opportunity provided by new digital content.
And I also wish to speak about the challenge of providing a better and safer Internet experience for all Australians.
One of the most significant drivers of the growth of the ICT industry has, and will continue to be development of digital content.
It is estimated that the industry contributes over $21 billion annually to the Australian economy and employs around 300 000 people.
The industry is transforming traditional business processes in finance, architecture, health and education whilst continuing to generate new opportunities throughout the economy.
The Australian Government is committed to the digital content industry, as digital content and applications are becoming increasingly important, in particular, in tandem with the ICT industry.
The Digital Content Industry Action Agenda is an Australian Government-supported and industry-led process that aims to achieve an internationally competitive digital content industry.
The Action Agenda’s Strategic Industry Leaders’ Group, or SILG, released a report in 2006 which identified key issues and recommendations to boost the industry’s output to $42 billion by 2015.
Together with key industry associations, SILG has developed an implementation plan to progress these recommendations.
The possibilities for this dynamic industry are certainly very exciting.
In addition to the Action Agenda, the Australian Government is moving forward with the development of a comprehensive Digital Content Strategy.
This Strategy will be based on the findings of the Action Agenda and will take account of the wider social, economic and cultural issues that are associated with digital content.
As you would all be aware, one of the drivers of digital content is children and teenagers accessing material on the Internet.
The Internet is a place to play, to explore, to learn, to catch up with old friends and make new ones.
Just like the real world, though, there is a lot online that you would not want children to see or to be a part of.
Pornography and other offensive material are just a few clicks away, and not everyone you meet online can be trusted.
It is important that parents feel that their children can use the Internet safely and confidently.
Without this, the incredible growth and entrepreneurial opportunities that drive the Internet may be hampered.
Recent media reports reflect some of the concerns that the Australian community has about issues such as ‘cyber-bullying’, the potential dangers of chat rooms for children and the use of video hosting sites to upload inappropriate content.
Governments have a role to play here, particularly by ensuring measures are in place that restrict access to offensive online content and protect children from exposure to content that is unsuitable for them.
The challenge is deciding how best to respond to a technological innovation that is disparate, dynamic and does not respect national borders while regulating only where necessary, and in a way that doesn’t place undue financial and administrative burdens on industry.
This is quite a demanding balancing act!
The Government has adopted a multifaceted response to offensive online content utilising legislation, regulation, education and technology.
The Government addresses offensive and illegal online content through the Online Content Scheme established under Schedule 5 of the Broadcasting Services Act 1992.
The Scheme establishes a complaints-based mechanism that is administered by the Australian Communications and Media Authority.
Internet content is ‘prohibited’ if it has been classified ‘refused classification’ (RC) or X18+ by the Classification Board or, if it is Australian-hosted, classified R18+ by the Classification Board and not behind an age verification mechanism.
If ACMA is satisfied that internet content hosted in Australia is ‘prohibited content’ it must issue a ‘take-down’ notice to the relevant Internet Content Host.
Content hosted overseas will be added to the ACMA ‘Black-list’ of prohibited sites.
Such sites will be blocked by filters provided under the Protecting Australian Families Online initiative which I will discuss shortly.
In addition, if ACMA considers the content to be of a ‘sufficiently serious’ nature to warrant referral to a law enforcement agency it must notify the Australian Federal Police.
The Internet industry plays a vital role in this Scheme through industry codes of practice which require that appropriate steps be taken to protect the public from ‘prohibited and potentially prohibited’ internet content.
The Government is also in the process of introducing legislation into Parliament to extend the current safeguards that apply to content delivered over the Internet to content delivered over convergent devices such as 3G mobile phones and subscription Internet portals.
This legislation will prohibit content rated X18+ and above; and provide that material that could be of a strong impact will have age restricted access where the content is suitable only for adults.
We are working with key industry representatives, including some content producers, mobile carriers, broadcasters, publishers and the Internet industry to create workable legislation which aligns existing, platform specific classification regimes.
The potential exploitation of children online has been addressed through legislative amendments that introduced severe penalties for sex crimes against children online, including for the offence of ‘grooming’.
This has been backed up through $30 million in funding to the Australian Federal Police to establish the Online Child Sex Exploitation Team.
Education and awareness activities conducted through NetAlert play a vital awareness-raising role and assist parents, teachers and children to manage their Internet use safely. In October last year I also launched a new:
e-security resource – an Australian Government
e-security website – www.staysmartonline.gov.au This website has been designed to provide home users and small businesses with basic, step by step information on e-security.
Australians can access a range of resources on the website including tips, interactive quizzes, and guides to help them stay smart online.
The ‘stay smart online’ website also contains an e-security update service, to provide home users and small businesses with easy to understand information on the latest e-security threats and what they can do about them. The website also includes ‘kids safe online’, which provides valuable educational materials for parents and children about safe Internet practices and the means to address offensive online content.
The Government’s $116.5 million Protecting Australian Families Online (PAFO) initiative builds on and strengthens these activities by introducing a range of measures that will empower parents to manage their children’s online activities safely in line with their individual family values.
Through the $93.3 million National Filter Scheme Australian families will be able to access free PC content filters for every Australian family or subsidised ISP filtered services.
These filters will provide parents with a powerful tool to help protect their children from illegal and offensive content on the Internet.
Filters will enable parents to decide what their children see, rather than being dictated to by the Government.
And an $18.3 million consumer information campaign will provide families with details of the initiative and the availability of filter products, as well as provide more general Internet safety information.
This will be boosted by an additional $5 million of funding for NetAlert educational and awareness activities.
To ensure the Government remains at the forefront of this issue, ACMA will undertake a further ISP level filtering trial and produce an annual report on trends in filtering technology.
In developing the PAFO initiative, the Government determined that voluntary PC and ISP filtering would be the most effective approach to addressing community concerns about the accessibility of offensive online content.
Our advice is that a mandatory, network-wide ISP filtering system would be limited to simple blacklists of known offensive sites and would not be able to filter non-web content like chat and could not be tailored to individual family needs such as different ages of your family members and the values that are held by that family.
In short, this would be a ‘second best’ solution, which Australian families would rightfully reject.
PC level filtering can block offensive content that is not on a blacklist, can block non-web content like chat and can be tailored to individual family needs and values.
It is vital in an age of chat rooms and video hosting sites that offensive content delivered through these channels can be adequately addressed or filtered.
The Government is aware that the initiative has generated a great deal of interest among both parents and industry and people want to see it up and running.
The initiative is a high priority for my Department and additional resources have been allocated to ensure the Scheme is established promptly.
PAFO is an ambitious, world’s first project, and for this reason the Government cannot simply pick a model ‘off the shelf’.
PAFO represents the single biggest initiative to protect Australian families online in the history of the Internet.
The Government is approaching this in a considered manner to ensure that parents receive the best available filter technology and that taxpayers receive ‘value for money.’
Steady progress is being made.
A tender has been recently placed on the AusTender website to invite an independent testing laboratory to bid for the testing of filter products.
Interested filter vendors should refer to this tender as it outlines some of the functional requirements that will be required for filter vendors participating in the Scheme.
The Government has also been working closely with an independent consultant to develop the operational requirements for the Government Filter Portal.
This includes the development of a registration, tracking and payments system that will meet the needs of families and filter vendors participating in the Scheme.
The next step will be the release of tenders calling for filter products for testing and possible accreditation in the Scheme.
I would advise all interested parties to check the AusTender website for further details of the scheme and how you can be a part of it.
But while the Government has a clear role to play in regulating the Internet and making it safer, everyone, including parents and industry, needs to be involved.
Parents need to take an active interest in what their children are doing online and to influence and supervise their activities.
Children need to be made aware of the dangers and be educated in how to avoid such dangers.
Industry too has a role to play in ensuring that the public has confidence in the products being delivered and that a socially responsible approach is being taken.
In many ways industry is taking the lead in responding to community concerns, and I look forward to working with you in the future to ensure that Australians have appropriate security measures in place and can adopt safe online behaviours. Thank you.