Real Action to Protect Families Online
10/08/10
The Coalition is committed to real action to provide families with resources they can use to help protect their children from online threats.
We will ensure that parents are not given a false sense of security when it comes to the safety and wellbeing of their children.
The previous Coalition Government provided parents with free PC-based content filters so that parents could help protect their children from exposure to dangerous and inappropriate material on the internet.
Labor cancelled this free PC-based filter and has not provided families with any other alternative.
Before the 2007 election, Labor promised to introduce a mandatory Internet Service Provider (ISP) - level filter that would cover ‘any content that has been identified as prohibited by the Australian Communications and Media Authority’.
Yet after three years Labor has failed to deliver, and has now announced a further two year delay, highlighting the practical problems with its plan.
The Coalition’s plan for real action to protect families online will:
1. Provide a free PC-based internet filter to families.
The Coalition will provide $60 million to provide quality internet filtering technology free to Australian families.
2. Expand ACMA’s successful Cyber-Safety Outreach Programme
The Coalition will commit $30 million to extend and expand the successful community Cyber-Safety outreach programmes which are currently booked out six months in advance.
3. Empower principals and introduce a new national education campaign to combat bullying and cyber bullying.
The Coalition will provide $10.5 million over four years to address the well-founded concerns parents have about the use of new social media sites.
4. Establish a new Ministerial Advisory Committee on Social Networking
The Coalition will establish a Ministerial Committee on Social Networking so that companies providing sites like Facebook and Twitter work with government to limit the potential harm that inappropriate use of Social Networking can cause.
This comprehensive package of measures will help to ensure parents are empowered to protect their children from online threats and dangers.